Hoover schools see small rise in enrollment so far for 2019-20
The Hoover school system is seeing a small increase in enrollment and larger increase in bus ridership this school year, officials shared with the Hoover school board Tuesday night.
As of the third day of school — Monday — there were 13,890 students who had shown up for classes in Hoover’s 16 schools, student services coordinator Bob Lawry told the school board.
It’s still early for direct comparisons to last year because last year’s official count was taken 20 days after Labor Day, but the number of students this year already is 22 more than last year’s official number, Lawry said.
“I can promise you this, as much as the sun is going to come up tomorrow, we are going to continue to grow,” he said. “We will get much higher than what that 20-day after Labor Day report said.”
Even though school officials try to get parents to register their children for school much earlier, there has been a surge in parents showing up to register the last week and a half, Lawry said.
School officials actually had projected a small decrease in enrollment this year — of 13 students, based on natural student matriculation, historical trends and geographic information system mapping, he said. But the numbers have turned out higher instead.
The biggest increase so far is in the middle schools. Enrollment at Simmons Middle School is 1,081, compared to 1,018 on the 20th day after Labor Day last year. Enrollment at Bumpus Middle is 1,064, up from 1,020 last year. Berry Middle School as of now is down slightly from 1,243 to 1,213.
Spain Park High School’s enrollment of 1,637 students already is 40 higher than last year’s official count, while Hoover High enrollment as of now is down slightly from 2,859 to 2,834.
Elementary enrollment overall is down slightly from last year from 6,131 to 6,061, but again, this year’s numbers are likely to continue to rise over the next month.
So far, South Shades Crest Elementary, which is now a K-2 school, has seen the greatest increase among elementary schools, with enrollment rising from 348 to 400. Rocky Ridge Elementary also has seen a surge, with enrollment up by 43 students so far, from 558 to 601.
Lawry said the surge at Rocky Ridge likely is related to a drop seen so far at Green Valley Elementary. It’s not unusual to see families move between Green Valley, Rocky Ridge and Gwin elementary schools due to a home relocation, he said.
School officials have been keeping a close eye on enrollment at Hoover High due to concerns about capacity, and Principal John Montgomery said the opening of the Riverchase Career Connection Center has really helped Hoover High be able to handle its numbers better.
Hoover High sends more than 350 students to the career center, also known as RC3, for the morning classes there, Montgomery said. “It makes passing in our halls better.”
Hoover sends 100-plus students to RC3 in the afternoon, but the morning is really the key time because Hoover High tends to have the most students in the halls during the morning hours, he said. In the afternoons, more students are taking athletics or band, he said.
While overall enrollment for the system is up only slightly right now, bus ridership has increased at a greater rate, transportation coordinator Jeremy Bradford said.
Last year, there were about 7,964 students registered for bus transportation, but this year, there are 8,628 — an increase of 664, Bradford said. Typically, only about 80 percent of those actually end up riding the bus on a given day, he said.
Still, the district so far has added four additional regular bus routes this year, and there are two additional buses running double routes, Bradford said.
Superintendent Kathy Murphy said there are still a few school traffic issues causing angst among parents.
One of those is the construction at the intersection of Stadium Trace Parkway, Brock’s Gap Parkway and Learning Lane. The other is congestion on Patton Chapel Road around the exits for Simmons Middle School and Gwin Elementary.
All of that is under review, but those issues usually smooth out over time, Murphy said.
In other school news, 27 percent of students in Hoover schools currently are qualified for free or reduced-price meals based on their family income, child nutrition director Melinda Bonner said. However, parents must reapply for that every year, she said.
There is a grace period at the beginning of the school year, but that grace period expires on Sept. 20, she said. Parents are encouraged to reapply online.
Bonner also shared that the school district’s free summer lunch program served 14,399 meals this year, compared to 8,692 in the program’s first year. Some of that increase is attributed to the fact that there were four locations where meals were served this year, compared to only the Hoover Public Library the first summer.
Also, the Hoover Helps nonprofit gave out 50 boxes of non-perishable food items to families at The Park at Hoover apartment complex on July 16 and 45 boxes of food at the Hoover Public Library on July 26, Bonner said.