D97 Enrollment Projections Show 5 Percent Jump by FY18

Oak Park Elementary School District 97 enrollment projections show an estimated increase of more than 300 students, or about five percent, by the end of fiscal year 2018 from FY 2013.

The District 97 Board of Education on Tuesday will hear a presentation of a 2013 enrollment report that includes enrollment projections through the 2017-18 school year. 

According to the report, conducted by Ehlers & Associates, enrollment has grown about 9.5 percent in the last five years and about 15 percent since 2006, when the district's overall enrollment was 5,001. The enrollment in the 2012-13 school year was 5,750. 

The biggest increase will be at the middle school level, according to the report, where enrollments are projected to climb from 1,814 in FY 2013 to 2,047 in FY 2018, or about 12.8 percent. 

The report shows growth of about 12 percent at the elementary school level over the five-year period, with changes at the following schools:

• Holmes: 517 to 550 (8.5 percent)
• Beye: 422 to 449 (6.4 percent)
• Longfellow: 667 to 709 (6.3 percent)
• Mann: 504 to 464 (7.9 percent decrease)

The other elementary schools are expected to maintain enrollment levels, according to the report.

Ehlers considered factors that could affect enrollment, such as affordability of housing, community development and birth statistics.

According to the report, “…Affordability of existing housing in District 97 contributes importantly to sustaining the district’s enrollment and even contributes slightly to enrollment increases experienced by the district during the past 10 years."

Ehlers projected about 22 new elementary school students and 11 new middle school students over the next five years because of the Colt/Westgate apartment development in the Holmes Elementary School and Brooks Middle School area. 

The board will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 11 at the District 97 administration building, 970 W. Madison St. 

The full enrollment report is available online here.

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