Oregon public schools are educating about 2,300 fewer students now than in the 2023-24 school year, according to newly released data from the Oregon Department of Education.

That’s a tiny 0.4% drop from the previous year, which is less precipitous than the enrollment drops of the past few years, suggesting that the pandemic era’s exodus from public schools is moderating but not bouncing back.

Before the pandemic, about 580,000 students attended public school in Oregon. Now there are around 545,000, according to the state agency’s data, which is based on fall attendance records. That’s a little more than a 6% overall decline since the fall of 2019.

Demographers at Portland State University’s Population Research Center have traced the enrollment drops to a declining birth rate and high housing costs that have pushed some Oregonians to leave the state. Last year, about 6,200 more people moved away from Oregon than moved to the state, most often to California, Washington, Arizona and Texas, census data showw.

As in previous years, the declines are most evident in early elementary grades. Across Oregon, there are about 34,700 kindergarten students this year and 37,300 first graders, compared to 47,000 members of this year’s graduating class. Post-pandemic, the state has experienced a boomlet of home schooling for elementary and middle schoolers.

Around the metro area, declines are notable in Portland Public Schools, though it remains the state’s largest district. The district saw a 1.5% enrollment drop this year, a loss of about 660 students. It now educates about 43,300 students.

Because that loss outpaces statewide enrollment declines, it means that per-pupil funding from the state will be reduced accordingly. The district has outlined plans for cutting about $40 million from its budget for next year and plans to release updated staffing projections by the middle of next week.

Other metro area school districts where enrollment declines outpaced state averages included West Linn-Wilsonville, which saw a 2% drop, and Parkrose, which saw a 3.3% drop. Most other districts did not show statistically significant enrollment changes either way, though David Douglas, Gresham-Barlow and the Estacada school districts all grew by between about 1% to 2%.

So far, the enrollment fluctuations have not translated into plans to close schools, either in the metro area or statewide, on a widespread basis. West Linn-Wilsonville had considered closing or consolidating a handful of its smallest elementary schools but shelved the plan amid fierce parental opposition. A similar dynamic is unfolding in Beaverton, where an early-stage conversation about elementary school consolidation prompted a surge of parent frustration.

In response, Beaverton School District leaders told community members they were “pausing discussion” about changes based on future enrollment and instead embarking on 18 months of facilitated “community conversations” to inform future decisions about school attendance boundaries and sites.

— Julia Silverman covers K-12 education for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her via email at jsilverman@oregonian.com.

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