WILLMAR -- Willmar Public Schools started the school year with a student count of 4,201, an internal number that indicates a loss of just 10 students from a year ago.
The early numbers presented to the School Board Tuesday are favorable when compared to enrollment losses suffered over the past decade, said Bob Haines, director of business and finance for the district.
"It looks good from what we know right now," he said. Computer projections had suggested that Willmar's enrollment decline would stabilize in a few years, but it may be happening sooner than expected.
In some years, the district has lost more than 100 students from one fall to the next. However, the district has had a fairly steady start for the past three years, with a fall student count of just more than 4,200.
Willmar's enrollment generally drops throughout the year, and the district sometimes ends the school with 100 fewer students or more. The district has a high mobility rate, and a number of its families move into and out of the district during a school year.
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Another positive sign that the district's enrollment may have slowed its decline is the student numbers at the end of the school year, which held steady from June 2005 to June 2006.
The board accepted a policy revision to comply with a new state law requiring schools to hold lockdown drills during the year.
The school district plans to hold either a fire drill or a lockdown drill every month during the school year, said Superintendent Kathy Leedom.
"This is a dynamic topic that is never out of our minds," she said, and school officials stay in regular contact with local law enforcement and emergency management officials.
The district has changed procedures somewhat, she said. Code words will no longer be used to communicate with the staff during an emergency, she said. Instead, administrators will use "plain language" to tell people what to do. Visitors or substitute teachers may not know what to do in an emergency if code words are used, she said.
Senior High teacher Rob Palmer received the Energy Certificate at the board meeting. Palmer completed a series of graduate courses through Hamline University in St. Paul to learn about how the study of math and science relate to energy fields. He is one of six teachers in the state to have completed the course so far.
Haines reported that the district's energy conservation program has resulted in $16,400 in savings in the last quarter, and the savings of 925,000 kilowatt hours since the program began. That would be enough energy to run the Junior High building for a year, he said.
The board also heard a presentation from Leedom on Minnesota's Promise, a proposal that sets forth a vision for the future for Minnesota's public schools. A symposium of 24 state superintendents, including Leedom, developed the proposal over two years of discussions.
