Slight drop in Oconto Falls enrollment

OCONTO FALLS — There were 47 fewer students in Oconto Falls public schools on the third Friday in September than in 2018, administrators told the School Board on Oct. 14.

State school aids are based on enrollment, which is determined by a “snapshot” count every year on the third Friday in September.

Superintendent Dean Hess said he anticipates another slight drop next year because of a somewhat larger senior class at the high school.

“We’ve been averaging, over the years since 2012, class sizes of around 120 to 130 kids,” Hess said. “Right now in the high school we have two classes that are 103 and 106, one is 115 and another (the senior class) is 135.”

Several classes in lower grades are between 95 and 110 students, he said.

“Depending on what’s coming in the 4-year-old and 5-year-old kindergartens in the next few years, we should see at least a stationary or potential increase,” Hess said.

The numbers will be used as administrators begin the process of reviewing staff levels in January, but Hess added that doesn’t necessary mean staff or program cuts.

“One of the things we’re always thoughtful of, it’s one of our key interests, is making sure that we’re offering a sound myriad of options for our young people,” he said. “So it’s not as simple as saying we’re going to reduce students so you’re automatically going to reduce your offerings, because if you do that you have a potential to lose more students if you’re not finding that they feel good about the offerings that you have.”

The conversation turned to the district’s efforts to market itself in hopes of attracting students through the open enrollment process, through efforts like an upgraded website and social media presence.

“We continue to improve the aspects of what it’s like for a parent and a student in getting their education, and then we try to market that as well as we can,” Hess said.

He said there’s a lot happening in the district and called attention to the monthly Student Council report earlier in the meeting. Among the highlights were the music department’s annual Community Halloween Party, the Drama Club’s hosting a sectional one-act play competition on Oct. 29-30, and the choir being invited back to sing the national anthem at the Dec. 14 Milwaukee Bucks game.

“They don’t invite you to go to a Bucks game to sing the national anthem because you’re just nice. They invite you because you’re outstanding,” Hess said. “I don’t know that we toot our horn enough. I think a lot of people are pretty humble, and we need to get over that … People need to know the awesome things that are going on, so you’re not the best-kept secret.”

Board member Clint Gardebrecht suggested that the district should share some of its statistics with the City Council, chamber of commerce, and others.

Hess recalled a conversation he had with three retired men about three years ago about why they settled in Oconto Falls.

“They wanted to retire to a community that had a hardware store, that had a grocery store, that had medical facilities close by, and was on water someplace, and had easy access to the interstate,” he said. “They had their list of, like, seven or eight things, and I never really thought of it that way, but I went, ‘Wow, how many small communities do you have that really have all that? I mean, a lot of towns have three of them, four of them, five of them, but not all of them.’

“If I hadn’t heard those guys, I never would have thought of it, and haven’t seen the community marketed that way.”