TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The Leon County School Board held its annual retreat Monday, discussing several critical topics for the district, including enrollment numbers.<\/p>\n
During the retreat, an analysis of data and charts revealed that enrollment from eighth to ninth grade is consistently trending down, indicating that the district is losing students to other school options during that period.<\/p>\n
However, school board members discussed expanding the Head Start program to include three additional schools in the county, which Leon County Schools (LCS) Superintendent Rocky Hanna believes will help reverse declining enrollment numbers and introduce more students and families to LCS at an earlier stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think now, by us expanding early learning programs into those spaces where we have capacity, is brilliant. I think it\u2019s absolutely the right thing to do,\u201d Hanna said. \u201cSo we\u2019re going to basically double the number of pre-k students we have to nearly 1200 next year. You\u2019ll see some of those enrollment numbers go to 80 or 90% and so I\u2019m really excited about what those opportunities will bring.\u201d <\/p>\n
More Tallahassee News<\/p>\n
In addition to student enrollment discussions, the board also addressed budget concerns and teacher salaries during the retreat.<\/p>\n
Superintendent Hanna proposed cost-cutting measures designed to save at least $6.7 million for the school district.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese aren\u2019t efficiencies. Let\u2019s be clear. These are cuts,\u201d the superintendent said. \u201cA number of positions that we were able to maintain and fund post-COVID with ESSER dollars, unfortunately, now, we just can\u2019t afford to do that.\u201d <\/p>\n
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