by Mark McDermott
The Manhattan Beach Unified School registered a slight increase in enrollment this school year, reversing a decade of decline exacerbated by an exodus of students during the first two years of the pandemic.
A report presented by Assistant Superintendent Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leopard at last Wednesday’s MBUSD Board of Education meeting showed that 5,897 students enrolled this year, compared to 5,852 last year, an increase of 45 students.
Murakawa-Leopard said the increase was above district projections from last spring, and is particularly significant because the Average Daily Attendance numbers are tied to state funding.
“Our funding is based on averages, so one year affects multiple years,” she said. “So the headline is that we met our target, which I think is good news for us…I am pleased to say we are seeing a small increase this year, more enrollment than last year, and very importantly a small bit higher than we assumed in our budget.”
Murakawa-Leopard also said she checked surrounding school districts’ preliminary enrollment numbers, and most saw improvements in the form of a less steep decline.
“But there are only a few districts that are showing an increase between last year and this year,” she said.
Board member Jennifer Fenton emphasized the significance of this small increase.
“I love that MBUSD can proudly say while other districts are maintaining [enrollment] or still in the decline, we’re seeing an increase,” Fenton said. “That’s a huge win, and worth noting.”
The district saw its largest increase in its transitional kindergarten program, which went from 42 students last year to 120 this year, contributing to an overall increase in elementary school enrollment from 2,132 last year to 2,180 this year. Only middle school saw a drop, from 1,254 to 1,201, while high school enrollment increased from 2,466 to 2,516.
Superintendent John Bowles said that the district benefited from a full year back in classrooms following the pandemic, and from more proactive communication regarding enrollment, including banners hung throughout the city.
“We have exit survey data for the first time, and we saw good response rates with regard to families’ perceptions’ about district goals, which were all high,” he said. “But the highest response rate was for communication, and we’ve taken a more aggressive stance with enrollment. That’s been aided by a couple of things. One is the waning of the pandemic. But I think we also need to attribute part of that to the role of the public information officer, who has really pushed our partnership with the City.” ER
