SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : School Enrollment Gain Pleases Officials

Student enrollment is higher than expected this year in the Capistrano Unified School District, a welcome bit of back-to-school news for educators who had earlier feared a decline in state funding for average daily attendance.

About 29,160 students in kindergarten through 12th grade started classes on the first day of school Sept. 10, up by more than 6% from last year, according to district figures. By the eighth day of classes, total enrollment had grown to 30,071, about 120 more students than expected.

“We do have significant growth in all the grades,” district Supt. James A. Fleming said.

District officials had feared that enrollment might decline this fall, based on a rare drop of about 200 students during a six-month period last year. Although officials aren’t sure what caused the decline, they suspect that the recession and layoffs may have forced some families to move out of the area.

Officials are just as baffled as to why enrollment is up again.

“With the economy situation being what it is, it’s very difficult to crystal-ball it,” district spokeswoman Jacqueline Price said. “We don’t know what will happen during this school year.”

If enrollment continues to climb, the district will need to hire more teachers, Price said. In August, district officials were able to rehire 51 of 58 teachers who had been laid off because of budget cuts earlier in the summer. About 64 employees holding non-teaching positions lost their jobs to budget cuts.

On Monday, district trustees approved sending layoff notices to two special education van drivers because of a lack of work, not budget cuts.