Oct. 23--Enrollment at Chicago Public Schools this year is down about 4,400 students from a year ago, continuing a decline that began more than a decade ago, according to numbers the district issued Friday.
The district said 392,285 students were enrolled on the 20th day of classes this school year. CPS enrollment last year fell below 400,000 students for the first time in at least two decades.
Most privately run charter schools, led by their high school programs, continued to add students, but not quickly enough to outpace the loss of students in district-run schools.
District statistics show nearly 16 percent of students attend independently operated but publicly funded charter or contract schools. Enrollment in those schools was up about 3 percent over 2014, to 61,496 students, CPS said. The district is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a set of new charter school proposals.
Schools within the Noble charter network accounted for a large chunk of that growth; those schools gained nearly 1,200 students compared to the 20th day of classes last year. According to the district's figures, five of the 10 fastest-growing charters since last year are in the Noble network.
The sharpest drops in enrollment again occurred in district-run schools, on the city's South and West sides.
Enrollment matters more than ever this year at CPS. For the first time, the district, under its student-based budgeting policy, pulled money from schools where enrollment fell short of projections. That has led to staff cuts, though district officials did not immediately release a list of the total number of positions lost at each school.
CPS also is working off a budget that relies on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of so-far nonexistent help from Springfield.
In 2002, the district's enrollment exceeded 438,000 students. Enrollment has dropped by about 10 percent since then.
Tribune reporter Jennifer Smith Richards contributed.
jjperez@tribpub.com
