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Schools

Enrollment Up at Hinsdale Central, Down at South

Overall figures show District 86 schools has 19 more students than it did a year ago.

The official fall enrollment for will not be measured until Sept. 30, but early indications are total district enrollment is slightly higher than a year ago. It appears has gained students, while ’s enrollment is declining.

At their meeting Monday night at Hinsdale Central, school board members received a 10th-day enrollment report from Superintendent Dr. Nicholas Wahl. It showed that on the 10th day of school (Sept. 7) Hinsdale Central had an enrollment of 2,791 pupils, up from 2,723 a year ago. Hinsdale South had an enrollment of 1,743 students, down from 1,792 a year ago.

Overall, enrollment in District 86 on Sept. 7 was 4,534, an increase of 19 students from a year earlier.

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“We had anticipated 4,545 students coming in,” Wahl said of projections done in March for staffing purposes. “So that’s fine, as far as how we staff. Both campuses appear to be very close on that tally.”

Enrollment at South was hurt by a smaller-than-average incoming freshman class, which numbered 401 students on Sept. 7. The school had 457 seniors, 426 juniors, and 429 sophomores.

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The largest class at Central is the junior class, with 727 students. The enrollment figures showed 699 freshmen, 676 sophomores, and 689 seniors.

“Why are we going in two different directions?” board member Dr. Richard Skoda asked. “Central continues to go up and South is trailing off.”

Wahl said the elementary feeder districts for South were not showing steady enrollment.

“We have a mobility rate over there that we don’t have at Central,” Wahl said. “Central continues to be on a slow increase.”

“How close is Central getting to being maxed out?” Skoda asked.

“That’s a good question,” Wahl said. “We’re not at capacity.”

According to the superintendant, four additional classrooms could be created underneath the library addition. That space is currently being used for computer labs.

“We have [other] places underneath the rooftop here that could be converted into learning space, as well,” Wahl said.

Female students outnumber their male counterparts at both campuses by a small percentage. Hinsdale Central had 1,406 girls on Sept. 7 and 1,385 boys. Hinsdale South reported 899 girls and 889 boys.

The gender numbers for Hinsdale South include 75 hearing impaired students, which would bring the total number of students at South to 1,788. However, only 30 of those students are counted in staffing calculations, resulting in the 1,743 total previously noted.

The 10th-day enrollment tally also showed 233 special education students at Central and 208 at South.

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