Youngstown enrollment increase and attendance decrease

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown City Schools enrollment is trending upward, but attendance is down.

“While it’s still early in the school year and enrollment numbers aren’t set, we are obviously happy to see any uptick in enrollment,” said school district CEO Krish Mohip. “I think that can be attributed to a number of factors. Families can see that we’re putting a lot of emphasis on improving instruction. Our return to neighborhood schools and the revival of our athletics programs throughout the city is attracting some students as well. We’ve also been concentrating on nurturing a positive culture and climate within each school.”

The current enrollment, which is fluid during this part of the school year, is 5,458 students, up 53 students from last year.

The enrollment numbers include preschool through 12th grade.

Last year ended with an enrollment of 5,405 students.

Around this time last year, however, the enrollment count was 5,487 students, an increase from 2016’s 5,311 students.

Before Mohip’s arrival, the district typically lost 200 students a year.

The attendance rate so far this year saw a decrease of nearly 6 percent.

The current attendance rate is 82.48 percent.

Last year after the first week, the attendance rate was 88.15 percent.