King: Putnam Schools Enrollment Not As Anticipated

The Putnam County School System did not see the enrollment spike it expected to start the new school year.

Director of Schools Corby King reported initial numbers during a joint board of education and commission work session Monday night. He said the district has seen a one to two percent increase.

“This year thankfully, we did not grow as much as what I really expected,” King said. “I’ll tell you. We are 91 students up in our K-12, which is not what we expected.”

King originally estimated up to a five percent increase before school started. King said the growth means the school system has more time to plan for its capacity issue.

When enrollment stabilizes, King said he expects enrollment to increase some and finish with about 12,150 students. Pre-K students were also not included into the initial numbers since they do not report until September after a new state law.

King said the K-4 portion of the new Park View School moving forward especially helps.

“It’s not huge growth, but it is a one to two percent,” King said. “If we can stay in that and by building this, that buys us a couple more years before we need that high school or elementary school.”