School officials pleased with enrollment rise

Enrollment in Havre Public School has increased since a year ago.

The increase encourages school officials, who have seen slight enrollment decreases in recent years.

State assistance to schools depends on the enrollment figures, so school officials are always glad to see enrollment rise.

Total enrollment for the district for this fall is 1,901, an increase from 1,862 in September 2014.

“That’s not a big increase, but it’s going in the right direction,” said District Clerk Mike Decker.

A second enrollment count will be held in the spring, Decker said.

Traditionally the spring figures are lower than the fall count, he said.

In different categories:

• In grades kindergarten to fifth grade, there were 895 students, up from 876 last September and up from last spring where there was 890 students.

• At Havre Middle School, 424 students were counted, up from 450 students last September. That was the only category where there was a decline, Decker said.

• Havre High School had 582 students, up from 538 last fall and substantially up from last spring, when there was 523 students.

• This year’s graduating class will be smaller than usual. There are 123 students. Still, that is up 10 from last year.

• The freshman class at HHS has 173 students, an increase from 152 last year. usually the senior class is smaller than the freshman class, Decker said. But the increase in the number of ninth-graders is an encouraging sign, he said.

School officials had no idea why there was a sudden drop in the number of third-grade students. There are 25 fewer third-graders this year, 130.