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Enrollment decline in Hinsdale District 86
Updated: April 15, 2013 6:21AM
HINSDALE — Hinsdale High School District 86 is expecting 138 fewer students next school year.
As a result, the staff will be reduced by the equivalent of more than five full-time positions.
Class sizes are expected to remain manageable, District 86 Superintendent Nicholas Wahl said.
District officials forecast the average number of students per class will be 24.9 in Hinsdale Central and 22 in Hinsdale South.
The smaller classes at South are because about 1,100 fewer students attend South, but the district wants to offer as great a variety of courses at both schools.
Wahl said the district intends to offer “a robust and equitable curriculum at Hinsdale South.”
As of Sept. 30, 2,830 students were enrolled in Central and 1,748 in South, totaling 4,578.
Wahl expects next year 84 fewer students will attend Central and 54 fewer will attend South.
“It’s dropping off a little more than projected,” he said.
“Central has remained fairly consistent,” Wahl said.
The upcoming shift would be a notable, he said.
Enrollment at South has been “predictably unpredictable,” Wahl said. He has seen the numbers range from an additional 200 students to 150 fewer from year to year.
But all seven of the elementary school districts that feed into District 86 have fewer sixth-graders than in the past, Wahl said. In 2.5 years, those students will be heading to high school.
Attrition will reduce the number of positions that have to be cut to reduce the staff by the recommended 5.6 positions.~
