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Capital Improvement Plan, 2007-2013 V. Historical Population Growth Factors And Administrative Policies Affecting School Enrollment « Return to Table of Contents Residential Births in Anchorage: While the number of births in Anchorage has not always proven to be a reliable predictor of kindergarten membership, the information does provide an indication of future long-range trends. The movement of families in and out of the municipality, as well as the number of births per household, affects the value of this data. Table 4 presents data on residential births occurring in Anchorage since 1978. This table reflects a declining birthrate for Anchorage Area residential births since 1998, though 2002 statistics indicate a leveling off of the birthrate. When births are adjusted to the school year, it shows rates declining since 1992, with rates leveling off since 1996. The first time there had been an increase in the number of births (adjusted to school year) in Anchorage since the early 1990’s was in 2004. School-Age Children in Total Population:Historically, school membership levels in Anchorage have reflected the city's population growth. Since 1994 the population in Anchorage has increased by 10.7%. During the same period of time, school membership increased by 3.1%. Current school membership represents 17 percent of the Anchorage population, down approximately 2% from early-2000 levels. However, it is important to note that both the addition of mandated and community-desired school programs, as well as major shifts in the residential location of the student population, have substantially affected space requirements in many District facilities. Table 5 lists Anchorage population and school membership for the years 1994-95 to 2006–07, as well as military students on-base and off-base for the same period. Monthly Public School Membership: School membership typically declines from the fall to the spring at the secondary levels, whereas elementary membership remains quite constant. Table 6 summarizes end-of-the-month school membership from 1974-75 to 2006-07. Grade Level Membership: Analyzing the historical grade level membership in Table 7indicates certain trends in school membership. For example, in 2001 the kindergarten (entering class) membership was 3,499 students while the sixth grade (outgoing class) was 4,098. This combination can negatively impact membership through declining enrollment. The large 6th grade classes are the result of high kindergarten enrollment in the 1990’s that is now filtering through the other grade levels. For elementary, 2005 was the last year its grade levels were expected to be negatively impacted by those large kindergarten numbers and their numbers are expected to start increasing in 2008-09. Similarly, the secondary levels are expected to continue to feel the impact of the larger kindergarten levels cycling through until 2008-09. Their numbers have started to decline slightly as a result of the smaller entering classes of the early-2000’s. Tables 7A-7D provide details of the summary in Table 7, by school and by grade within each school. High School Attendance Area Membership: Tables 8 and 9 present historical elementary and secondary membership broken down by geographic area. In prior years these tables have referenced high school attendance areas. The tables in this report are based on the same groupings of feeder schools as prior years, to allow historical comparison. However, since there is not a one-to- one relationship between feeder schools and next higher level of schools, it is more appropriate to refer to geographic areas, rather than high school attendance areas. This information provides basic data for analyzing shifts in student population. Table 10 provides information on ASD special services programs membership. Non-Public School Membership: Data on private school membership have historically been collected by the District. Table 11 summarizes this data for the years 1996-97 to 2006-07. Table 12 lists the individual schools and their 2006-07 memberships. Attendance Zones and Boundary Exceptions: School Board policies and procedures permit students to attend a school or program outside their regular attendance area, provided classroom space is available. When there are no openings for a school or program, a lottery is conducted and a waiting list is developed. Students on the waiting list are admitted in sequence as openings occur. Transfer requests are to be monitored to ensure that such transfers do not result in crowding of facilities or racially isolated school populations. Boundary Adjustments: Changes to attendance boundaries are normally required as a result of opening a new school or shifts in student population. The factors listed below serve as a guide for boundary adjustment recommendations: The geographic proximity. The maintenance of the area or neighborhood school concept where feasible. Non-contiguous boundaries are contrary to School Board policy and District planning objectives. The transportation of students. Any redistricting should attempt to minimize travel time for students and overall transportation costs, as well as minimize hazardous conditions for students walking to school. The development of a "feeder" school network in which elementary school boundaries do not overlap those of middle schools and senior high schools; and middle school boundaries do not overlap those of senior high schools. The retention of a reasonably balanced racial ethnic membership in all schools. The relationship of boundary adjustments to historical student assignment changes. Efforts are made to avoid reassignment of students who have been affected by an earlier boundary change. The maintenance of a commitment to long-range planning decisions.   Tables Table 4: Anchorage Area Births Table 5: Anchorage Population and Student Membership Table 6: End-of- Month Membership Summary Table 7: Historical Membership Summary by Grade Table 7A: Historical Elementary Membership by Grade Table 7B: Historical Middle School Membership by Grade Table 7C: Historical High School Membership by Grade Table 7D: Historical Other Secondary School Membership by Grade Table 8: Elementary Membership by Geographic Area Table 9: Secondary Membership by Geographic Area Table 10: Special Services/ Pre-Elementary Membership Table 11: Private School Membership in Anchorage Table 12: Private School List and Enrollment   « Return to Table of Contents		Demographics Menu Demographics Home Capital Improvement Plans Ethnicity Report Find a school Membership Summary

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