For years, the South Bend Community School Corp. has been battling a stubborn trend: declining enrollment.
The district's schools had nearly 22,000 students a decade ago. This fall, enrollment was 18,110 — down 570 students compared with the previous school year, according to the Indiana Department of Education.
Kenneth Spells, who took the helm in July as the school corporation's new superintendent, said last summer that reversing the trend of falling enrollment would be at the top of his agenda.
On Wednesday, while talking with The Tribune about the current year's enrollment, Spells listed initiatives such as a Dual Language Immersion program the school board recently approved, expanded offerings in career and technical education, and plans to equip every student with a computing device by the beginning of next school year. He said those efforts will provide students with more opportunities and more reasons to attend South Bend schools.
"I want families to know that we want the students back," he said. "We're going to provide a great education for those students, and we're working hard to provide different academic programs to help students be successful."
Spells also said that he has been conducting "a listening tour" of the district, as he promised to do when he was hired as superintendent.