District 65 enrollment declines again

The enrollment in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is lower than it was last year… and will keep shrinking and shrinking. So says a report on Monday’s school board agenda. The document lists 2026-27 enrollment (as of October 1) at 5,406 students, K-8. That’s 224 kids fewer than last year’s total of 5,630 .. a 4% reduction. The highest mark over the past decade was in 2017, with just a shade under 8,000 students. That’s looking back. Looking ahead, the district expects to drop below 5,000 K-8 students (projected at 4,931) for school year 2031-32 (FY’32). That would mean a decrease of around 2,600 children over a 15-year period, or enough to fill more than seven elementary schools which had 350 seats apiece. And it could get even worse, because the actual enrollment has been coming in lower than predicted.. “District 65 has failed to make enrollment projections over the past five years,” the report states. The current year’s numbers do not include preschool, nor the Park and Rice special schools. Those total 332 in 2026-27, down about 100 since 2022-23. Nearly all of that decline is in Early Childhood/Preschool. “It has become increasingly evident,” the report says, “that District 65 is experiencing decreasing enrollment on an annual basis. The eighth grade class this year has 701 students, and is the only grade level with over 700 students. The kindergarten and first grade levels have less than 600.” So if you wonder why the district is looking to close schools, there are simply too many buildings for too few children. The average building, the administration has said, is only about two-thirds full. The enrollment report states that the ongoing decline, “while impacted by COVID, remote learning, and other factors,” is part of an ongoing trend of lower birth rates statewide and nationally. However, some critics have suggested that at least some of the D65 decrease , is from dissatisfied families moving to another district, or putting their children in private or parochial schools. Related