news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Enrollment in Guilford County Schools dipped slightly this year, but it remains ahead of projections.

The county school system had 71,464 students as of Sept. 22, the 20th day of the academic year.

A year ago, the district had 71,652 students, or 188 more than this year. The year-to-year decline was about 0.26 percent.

One factor driving the lower enrollment was a change in the kindergarten eligibility law. Starting with the 2009-10 school year, state law requires children must be 5 years old on or before Aug. 31 to enter kindergarten. The former law had set a date of Oct. 16.

This year, Guilford's kindergarten enrollment dropped by 464 students.

Overall, the district reported that it got 385 more students than it expected. That was within half a percentage point of its projection, which it made in the spring.

The school system uses the 20th-day enrollment figures to monitor yearly student enrollment and to begin adjusting staff allocations as needed. At some schools classrooms may be split up or combined to adjust for actual enrollment figures.

The district's demographic makeup looks like this: 40.4 percent black, 39.1 percent white, 9.2 percent Hispanic, 5.5 percent Asian, 5.3 percent multiracial and 0.5 percent Native American.

Northwest High School, with 1,947 students, is the district's largest campus.

To see enrollment figures by school, click here (pdf).