Waukee sees enrollment increase despite Education Savings Accounts
The district has seen a jump in the number of ESA-funded students, but says it is not alarmed yet.
The district has seen a jump in the number of ESA-funded students, but says it is not alarmed yet.
The district has seen a jump in the number of ESA-funded students, but says it is not alarmed yet.
Waukee Community School District says student enrollment is up from this time last year. Superintendent Brad Buck shared some numbers during Monday's school board meeting.
Total enrollment is up by 376 students. There are some individual school buildings and grade levels showing declines, but the district says part of it is that some elementary and middle schools house different grade levels.
Superintendent Brad Buck also provided an update on the effects of Educational Savings Accounts, or ESAs. The number of students living in the Waukee district utilizing that funding jumped from 270 in 2023, to 1,450 this fall.
Buck makes it clear that the district expected this increase between 2023 and 2025 because of changing requirements for ESAs. There were income requirements for families when the law first took effect. Now, every Iowa family can apply.
"You are not seeing significant increases in attendance at Dowling Catholic and Des Moines Christian in those kinds of things at this point," Buck said. "What a lot of that 1,450 number is, is families whose children were already attending a private school and, now, they're receiving funding from the state for their child to attend that school."
Iowa families filed 45,328 applications for ESA funding for the 2025 to 2026 school year. In July, the Iowa Department of Education told vlog that 43,784 were approved. The agency said it expected to approve even more before the start of the year.
Certified enrollment numbers from the 2024 to 2025 school year show that Waukee is Iowa's fastest-growing school district based on enrollment.
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