Published: October 30, 2009 10:55 pm         

Enrollment is up

Oklahoma State Depart-ment of Education has released numbers that show pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade enrollment has grown by 9,734 students since last school year.

Preliminary enrollment numbers show 654,511 students are enrolled in Oklahoma public schools as compared to last year’s 644,754.

State Superintendent Sandy Garrett said enrollment has increase by 75,344 students since 1990.

In recent years the majority of growth in public school enrollment has been in the category of Hispanic students, said Garrett. Hispanic student numbers have increased by 5,500 students since last year, and while there were only 15,574 Hispanic public school students in 1990 there are 73,172 Hispanic public school students today.

“Hispanic students now represent, according to these preliminary numbers, 11 percent of our total student population,” Garrett said. “That is the same percentage for black students. Since 1990, white students have dropped by nearly 61,000 students to 56 percent of the student population. Yet, some districts have been majority-minority for some years.”

Oklahoma City Public Schools has surpassed Tulsa to become the state’s largest school district.

“Oklahoma City has grown by 1,481 students and, of those new students, 1,284 are Hispanic,” Garrett said. “While Tulsa grew by a total of 298 students, it gained 695 additional Hispanic students.”

Garrett said Hispanic students represent 41 percent of Oklahoma City’s students and 22 percent of Tulsa’s students.

Enrollment for Enid Public Schools has grown by 349 students from last school year.

The state’s enrollment data also shows:

• Parents prefer to enroll children in full-day early childhood opportunities as opposed to half-day.

• Putnam City school district was the only district in the largest 10 districts to have a decrease in enrollment. The state’s largest school districts are Oklahoma City with 47,570 students, Tulsa with 41,493 students, Moore with 21,675 students, Edmond with 20,747 students, Putnam City with 18,700 students, Broken Arrow with 16,618 students, Lawton with 16,398 students, Union with 15,010 students, Midwest City-Del City with 14,643 students and Norman with 14,358 students.

• All but two of the state’s 10 smallest districts, Straight and Felt, had a decrease in enrollment.

The state’s 10 smallest districts are Plainview with nine students, Boley with 37 students, Byars with 53 students, Watson with 54 students, Milfay with 55 students, Nashoba with 55 students, Greasy with 67 students, Fanshawe with 67 students, Straight with 67 students and Felt with 68 students. All of the smallest school districts, with the exception of Felt, are dependent school districts.