Enrollment surpasses 4,000

Brandon Valley is back to school with record students, staff

 

Although enrollment isn’t official for another month, there are more kids in the classrooms at Brandon Valley this year – 123 more students, to be exact.

“Enrollment numbers at this time of the year are approximate,” said Dr. Jarod Larson, superintendent of the BVSD. The enrollment count utilized for the purpose of state aid, he added, is taken on the last Friday of September.

As of Friday, Larson reported the district has 4,055 students, which is a 123-student increase over last year’s 3,932 count.

“Naturally, we have some kids on our enrollment audit right now that aren’t with us. We haven’t received requests for records and haven’t moved yet and notified us. We maybe get a few more after Labor Day, so it’s (4,055) an approximate number,” Larson said.

In recent years, enrollment has increased by about 100 students per year.

The district’s largest class this year hails from the kindergarten ranks. The 396 student-count includes 71 pre-kindergartners that are kindergarten-eligible, Larson said.

“Our kindergarten classes were pretty strong this year, and past that it seems as though fifth and sixth grade we’ve seen a little bit of growth there with some folks coming in, and our high school has grown by 25-30 kids,” he said.

BVSD graduated 262 seniors in May, and this year’s senior class lists 245. Enrollment for grades 9-12 hit 1,090 this year.

Dr. Gregg Talcott, principal at BVHS, said new students to the district have come from all across the United States. He listed New Mexico, Los Alamos and College Station, Texas, Black Foot, Idaho, and Minnesota.

“We’ve got as many kids coming in as we lost to graduation,” Talcott said.

To accommodate the student increase, Larson said the district used a pro-active approach in hiring staff.

“We utilized a growth pool for our teachers so we had multiple teachers who were unassigned as we hired them. As the enrollment went up in certain areas we were able to assign them later to the school for that management piece; and that’s been really positive,” he said.

Larson said it’s been a smooth start to the new school year.

“I’ve been asked by a few people how things have gone, and I guess what I would tell you is when you start and you transport 1,800 kids in the morning and at night, and many of them are pretty little and they don’t know which bus to get on and which bus to get off of, no one was lost for too long. That’s a joke. No one was lost and we were able to transport everyone safely,” he said.

Road construction on I-90 and in Brandon also forced district transportation staff to make some minor adjustments in their schedules. 

“What’s the old saying in South Dakota – we have two seasons: winter and road construction. Right now, we’re in the season of road construction and it does impact our ability to be as efficient and as effective transporting kids when you’re dealing with those delays, and that’s important when you’re going to the grocery store or what not and you run into a little construction, it takes a few minutes longer. We just really appreciate our parents and guardians being patient with the transportation as we work out those kinks and go from there,” Larson said. “My little guy, he rides the bus to school and from school, and I think they were two minutes late the first day and today they were one minute late, so I think that’s about the time they will get there.”

 

BVSD BY THE NUMBERS

• Brandon Elementary: 540

• Fred Assam Elementary: 490

• Robert Bennis Elementary: 520

• Valley Springs Elementary: 110

• BV Intermediate School: 670

• BV Middle School: 635

• BV High School: 1,090

TOTAL: 4,055