Portland Public Schools Enrollment Declines Again, Slightly More Steeply Than Projected

Initial enrollment data from Portland Public Schools for the new school year shows the number of students dropped for a third consecutive year, and the numbers are slightly lower than expected.

The district reported 630 fewer students than the previous academic year, at 43,375. That’s a 1.4% drop from the past school year.

It’s 154 fewer kids than Portland State University’s Population Research Center projected. PSU forecasted that in this academic year 43,529 students in K-12 would attend PPS schools. That’s a marginal 0.35% difference from the actual enrollment number.

The first day of school for most students was Aug. 27. Enrollment numbers were based on head counts taken on Oct. 1.

“I expect the Board and Superintendent to be focused on building enrollment in PPS,” School Board member Julia Brim-Edwards told WW in a text. “Families need to be able to count on a consistent and stable school year and a district focused on academic excellence.”

PPS lost 625 students across grades K-5, making elementary school the category with the biggest losses. There are 158 less kindergarten students, part of a pattern that the district has witnessed for a number of years as Multnomah County loses young families to rising costs. Lower birth rates might also contribute to the drop (“Big Kid on Campus”, WW, April 12, 2023).

These numbers are in line with national trends. Education Week projects the U.S. will have 3 million fewer K-12 students attending public schools by 2031, a 5% decrease from the fall of 2022. But PPS’s student enrollment matters for school funding—the state Oregon pays schools for each student they report.

The district performs data reconciliation through October and presents finalized numbers to the board in November, says PPS spokeswoman Valerie Feder. Finalized numbers will help determine the district’s budget, she says.