By Barbara Kline,
Superintendent, Orcas Island School District
Here is a table that shows the enrollment over time. I decided to start it in October 2000 which is the year before OASIS was started. Because Janet [Knowles, see link] was concerned about counting students who did not actually come to the school campus, I subtracted OASIS K-8 from the OISD total in the final column.
OASIS 9-12 and Waldron Island Elementary students are part of the Orcas Island School District and attend classes on campus. Some of the OASIS K-8 students also attend classes on campus. As of the end of the school year 2009-10, a minority of the OASIS students are from off island families.
I used headcount as the best measure of the students who will be using the facilities. Headcount is a count of the actual students who are in each grade. A student’s “head” can only be counted one time even if he/she is attending classes in two schools. For example a student at Orcas High School taking classes in OASIS will be counted in the headcount in the school in which he/she is attending the most classes.
In addition to headcount, the state also counts by FTE (Full Time Equivalent). This is the count according to the number of classes or amount of time that a student spends in school, or that the state will pay for.
Some examples:
- our full time kindergarten students have to be counted as half time students even though they are on campus all day. The state will only pay for half of a kindergarten student.
- the state pays for only five of the six classes that most of our high school students take. We pay for the sixth or seventh class out of local funds
- a student who attends school for part of the day is counted under FTE for that part that he/she attends
The FTE count is usually a lower number than headcount and therefore is not a good number to work with when planning spaces for students.
When we planned the bond, we planned for the spaces needed for out students. Besides being on campus for some classes, OASIS K-8 needs office, storage and staff spaces.
I am happy to meet with anyone who wants to discuss these numbers or has any other questions about the school district or the bond.
Email bkline@orcas.k12.wa.us or call 298-1800
| OISD K-12 | OASIS K-8 | OASIS9-12 | Minus OASIS K-8 | |
| 2009 October | 521 | 75 | 23 | 446 |
| 2008 October | 472 | 23 | 23 | 449 |
| 2007 October | 475 | 15 | 20 | 460 |
| 2006 October | 495 | 23 | NA | 472 |
| 2005 October | 537 | 27 | NA | 510 |
| 2004 October | 511 | 17 | NA | 494 |
| 2003 October | 511 | 17 | NA | 494 |
| 2002 October | 537 | 32 | NA | 505 |
| 2001 October | 567 | 24 | NA | 543 |
| 2000 October | 514 | NA | NA | 514 |
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Barbara,
I thought Waldron Island had a school building with 13 students as of October 08? If they attend classes on Orcas will that school be eliminated at some point? Of the 95 OASIS students as of October 2009, how many lived off-island?
Debra,
Yes, Waldron has its own school and I see that my sentence about them can be misunderstood. The sentence should read: OASIS 9-12 students attend school on the Orcas Island campus and Waldron Island students attend school on the Waldron Island school campus. My apology for any confusion that wording caused.
The Waldron Island school building will be repaired and upgraded with funds from the bond in August. Next year, they are expecting to enroll about 16 students.
In October 2009, about 35 of the total OASIS students were off island and about 60 were on island.