VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The following is a news release by Valley City Public Schools Superintendent Josh Johnson.
“We have officially hit one of the busiest times of the year in the school district! Along with the end of winter activities and the beginning of spring activities, we have music concerts, plays, and other performances happening in our schools and throughout the community. Our students, staff, and parents have been and will continue to be busy for the next few months!! In addition to all of these exciting events, our seniors at VCHS are beginning to see the finish line ahead of them.
This is the time of year when our staff and administration are actively planning for the next school year. Each year, we carefully evaluate our student enrollment, potential staff changes (retirements/resignations), staffing needs, class and program offerings, and budgets. As you likely know, for the past couple of years, our k-12 student enrollment has been trending down. We are graduating more students than we are enrolling in kindergarten. This year as an example, we have 62 students in kindergarten and 88 students in the 12th grade. I’ve attached a slide showing our end-of-school-year enrollments and the overall changes from 2019-2024. Because public school districts in North Dakota receive the majority of their revenue from the state based on student enrollments, when we have fewer students, we have less state funds. F.Y.I., the school district receives around $11,000 per student per school year from the state of North Dakota.
While the trend of fewer students in our school district is not new to us, the projections on enrollment continue to forecast fewer students in our school district. As a result, this year it is necessary for us to more closely evaluate our staffing needs, classes, programs, and overall budgets to determine where and how we can reduce expenditures ahead of the 2024-2025 school year. One example of how we have addressed this so far is with the upcoming changes to our busing services. In the past few months, we have determined that we can purchase and run school buses in the district for less than a contracted bus service agreement. As we plan for next school year, we will continue to make every effort to limit the impact that potential changes will have on our students, staff, classes, and programs.
We have many reasons to be proud of our school district and community because of the hard work, successes, and overall representation that our students and staff have at Valley City Public Schools. This past week, so many things have reminded me why I love Valley City! Thank you to our parents, community members, and past graduates of VCHS for your support of our students, staff, and school district. Please remember, in the midst of challenges, opportunities will present themselves to our school and community.”
If you have any questions about our student enrollment or planning for the 2024-2025 school year, please don’t hesitate to send me via email or contact me by phone at 701.845.0483 or schedule an in-person visit at the district office located at 460 Central Avenue N.
Sincerely, Mr. Josh Johnson Superintendent
