Iowa’s certified enrollment in public schools increased by nearly 1,472 this current school year, though the figure is around one-fifth of the 5,935 students that were lost in 2020.

Certified enrollment is used to determine funding for public schools and differs slightly from the actual headcount of students enrolled in that particular school district. Washington Community School District’s certified enrollment increased by 1.7 students this year for a total of 1,617.2. This slight change pales in comparison to the 88.4 student decrease they saw in the 2020-2021 school year, as statewide the number decreased for the first time in 10 years. Washington Superintendent Willie Stone says each pupil amounts to at least $7,000 in state funding, which amounts to over $619,000 lost last year, “That was a pretty big hit so it is going to eventually hit into our unspent balance which is what we try to carry forward every year as a district. So it’s good to see that we’re up 1.5, but we still have to really watch our budget to make sure that we can continue to be where we need to be to provide a good service to our students.”

Another factor that weighs into the district’s budgeting is Supplemental State Aid, for which Stone encourages the public to talk with their local state representative or senator about approving a 3% increase in public school funding, as the state requires them to give staff annual salary raises of 3% or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. The legislature gave a 2.4% increase in SSA last year.