Economy down, but school enrollments steady

Enrollment at Wheatland High School remains stable despite home foreclosures in the Plumas Lake area, according to a school official who believes that new families are moving into the south Yuba County community where foreclosures have been common.

"Maybe it's not the same kids," Penny Lauseng, business manager for the Wheatland Union High School District, said Monday of the possible changing of the student population as some families move out of Plumas Lake and others arrive.

The suburban community is within the boundaries of the Wheatland High district, which is projected to have about 10 additional students and an enrollment of 675 this school year.

The number of students is also boosted by transfers to Wheatland High from other school districts, Lauseng said, estimating Wheatland High has attracted 100 such youths.

She will review the annual audit of the school district tonight when the Board of Trustees meets. The document notes a 1 percent decline in enrollment from June 2007 to June 2008. But the projected enrollment increase this school year of 10 students will offset that drop, Lauseng said.

Bruce Morton, director of student welfare and attendance for the Yuba City Unified School District, said enrollment has increased by 210 students from a year ago to 12,778.

West Walton, Lincoln and Lincrest elementary schools have added teachers because of the increased enrollment, Morton said.

That growth is principally in the lower grades beginning with kindergarten classes, he said.

The increased enrollment may also reflect fewer families taking longer vacations during the winter break that categorize students as no longer enrolled in Yuba City schools, Morton said.

Fewer vacations out of the country or to the East Coast are likely due to the financial slowdown, he said.

"It's got to be the economics," Morton said.

Gay Todd, superintendent of the Marysville Joint Unified School District, said enrollment is showing a slight increase in the district of about 10,000 students.

"We are holding our own," Todd said.

Bernie Rechs, a trustee for Marysville Joint Unified, said he knows of several people who have bought houses in the Yuba-Sutter area in recent months as home prices dropped.

"If you get a good deal," Rechs said, "people are beginning to take chances again on housing."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appeal-democrat.com