A statewide trend continues to play out locally as many rural school districts saw year over year declines in student enrollment.
Kokomo School Corporation is the outlier as its up 70 students. It’s the second time in three years the school corporation has grown.
“When we look at the last four years, we’re trending upward,” said Superintendent Mike Sargent.
Student enrollment at all three levels — elementary, middle and high school — are up with middle school showing the most growth.
More than half of Tribune-area schools tallied fewer students this fall.
That includes Northwestern and Taylor in Howard County, Peru and Maconaquah to the north and the area’s smallest district, Tri-Central.
Peru Community Schools saw the steepest drop, down 100 students since fall 2024.
It’s a significant loss that means much more than a few more empty desks.
Fall enrollment 2025
Fall enrollment numbers for Kokomo Tribune-area schools are shown for the last four years. Declining enrollment is a trend at most rural schools in Indiana.
CNHI graphic
State education funding is tied to enrollment figures. Each student nets the school they attend a certain amount of funding which mostly goes toward teacher salaries. This makes up a considerable part of a school’s budget.
Therefore, a drop in students can mean a loss of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. Some schools are opting to not fill positions when a teacher leaves because of declining enrollment.
On the flip side, an influx in students can be a boon.
Eastern Howard School Corporation eclipsed the 1,600 mark this fall.
That’s a good thing. Superintendent Keith Richie said 1,600 students was needed to avoid attrition. It also allowed for most teachers to get a $3,000 raise under a new teachers contract.
Eastern benefits from a large out-of-district transfer population which makes up about 40% of its enrollment.
“Without them, we’d be a really small school corporation,” Richie said.
More than half of Indiana school districts enroll less than 2,000 students. Most of these schools are losing students.
The 2,000-student threshold, according to some studies, is the minimum needed for a school corporation to support student achievement. School districts with fewer than 2,000 students score lower on standardized exams and often lack the same access to high-level courses.
This argument combined with shrinking student enrollment brings up consolidation, which gets floated by state Republicans from time to time.
Combined with tighter finances due to changes in property tax legislation, smaller schools are expected to feel more financial pressures in the coming years. Some school leaders think another consolidation push is possible.
That’s likely to be met with resistance from small schools. Administrators have previously told the Tribune they are skeptical of claims that consolidation saves money.
Pinpointing why a school loses (or gains) students is difficult. Most times, it’s a combination of factors, including housing availability, job opportunities for families and alternate forms of education.
Peru Superintendent Trent McCormick said the additional options for schooling impact many traditional schools.
“There are a number of educational opportunities/options for students with Indiana being a national leader in school choice, but it is widely held that many kids are opting to go to school online these days,” he said via email.
A small or large graduating class or incoming kindergarten class can swing a school’s enrollment.
This year’s kindergarten class is smaller at Taylor Community Schools. In turn, there are 40 fewer students compared to last year.
“That’s kind of across the state what we’re hearing is that a lot of kindergarten classes are smaller,” Superintendent Steve Dishon said earlier this fall.
He also said declining birth rates — Indiana’s has declined 15% since 2007 — and homeschooling also play a part.
Tri-Central is down 21 students.
Low turnout led TC not fielding a cross country team this fall. The football team transitioned to a junior varsity schedule early in the season.
Superintendent Andrew Larson said the Trojans will play a varsity schedule in 2026, but admitted there are some concerns with enrollment related to athletics.
There were some exceptions, including Western and Tipton, both of which saw increases.
Western has its largest kindergarten class in four years and a large middle school population, particularly eighth grade.
Superintendent Mark DuBois said transfer students and new housing contributed to the uptick.
Part of Western’s school district boundaries are within Kokomo city limits. They’re some of the areas that have seen housing developments in recent years.
Tipton’s increase is largely attributed to a larger junior class and transfers in the middle and high school. Associate Superintendent Scott Jaworski said the trend is not expected to continue, though as most elementary grades consist of fewer than 100 students.
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