Brown County Schools lost 100 students between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years. While enrollment is still decline, it is on a much smaller scale. (Note: Even numbered years show fall enrollment; odd numbered years show spring enrollment.)
Graph courtesy of Brown County Schools
The enrollment numbers for Brown County Schools are in, and the county didn’t lose as many students in the 2024-25 school year as in recent years.
“Only being down by two students is huge for us,” Superintendent Emily Tracy said of certified enrollment numbers that show the steadiest student enrollment count for the district in years.
Brown County schools currently have 1,463.53 total students in the district, according to the Indiana Department of Education — keeping enrollment essentially steady year after dramatic declines in student counts in years prior. The current districtwide enrollment is two less than the rounded number of 1,466 students recorded in February.
Why is the certified number of students enrolled not a whole number?
According to Julie Pagnard, data specialist for Brown County Schools, “when a homeschool student wants to come for one period, we get some funding for a portion of their year”. Those students are counted as less than one full-time student, and listed behind the decimal point. The number depends on how many classes those students they take and the duration of their studies.
In fall 2018, Brown County schools had 1,787 students and 1,764 in the spring semester of 2019. The numbers dropped dramatically between 2019 and 2020, from 1,764 to 1,664 in the fall semester and 1,601 in the spring.
“I came in (the district) in 2021 and we lost about 40 to 50 each year until this fall count,” Tracy said. “And before I came, we were losing inconsistently, and in 2019-20, we lost over 100 in one year.
“We are working relentlessly to provide incredible opportunities for our students and families. I believe programs like TEDx and Eagle Manufacturing and STEM certification are just a few examples of this pursuit and people are starting to notice they can’t get these opportunities in other small, rural or even the large districts in our region,” Tracy said. “Just a reminder we are the first and only school scaling an officially licensed TEDx in grades kindergarten through 12th in the entire state.”
Certified numbers for the individual schools are as follows:
- Brown County High School — 452.13
- Brown County Middle School — 395.29
- Helmsburg Elementary School — 201.07
- Sprunica Elementary School — 236.04
- Van Buren Elementary School — 179
Pagnard explained that officials cannot monitor which schools specifically lost the two students because enrollment is fluid. “We may have lost two, but picked up two … The roster for last year would be different from this year,” and does not always include the same kids in the count.
