The Wright City R-II Board of Education recently reviewed a detailed enrollment projection presentation from RSP & Associates during their March 27 meeting.
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The Wright City R-II Board of Education recently reviewed a detailed enrollment projection presentation from RSP & Associates during their March 27 meeting.
RSP & Associates is a firm that provides professional educational planning to school districts in numerous states through data-driven findings. The firm has a projection accuracy of 97% or greater, and they provided a 99.7% accurate 2023-24 enrollment analysis to the R-II district.
The most notable predictions included a projection of a district-wide enrollment to increase by 250 students in the next five years.This increase will be spread across different school levels, with the elementary schools seeing an addition of 100 students, the middle school growing by 120 students and the high school experiencing an increase of 30 students.
However, this growth comes with some challenges, particularly related to capacity.
The middle school, which currently has the capacity to accommodate 550 students, is projected to exceed this limit by the 2026-27 school year, with enrollment reaching 567 students. It is expected that this number will continually grow each following fiscal year.
At the high school, which just opened earlier this year, it is anticipated to experience overflow starting in the 2033-34 school year.
“The district remains committed to strategic planning in alignment with our master plan to ensure we are proactively addressing growth and facility needs,” R-II district officials said.
The projected enrollment increases are largely due to ongoing development and economic growth within the district. In 2024 alone, the district saw the completion of 74 single-family and 54 multi-family units.
There is potential for the addition of another 2,900 housing units to be added within the next 10 years, which will further contribute to student population growth.
There is also expected to be growth due to the new American Foods Group meat-packing facility, which will be in operation later this month.
RSP did note the East Elementary four-room class addition currently under construction will help expand capacity from 400 students to 600 students.
In addition, RSP added adjustments to grade configurations may be needed to help with potential overflow issues.
Most recently, the district moved fifth grade to the middle school at the start of this fiscal year to accommodate the increasing enrollment at West Elementary.
“It’s important to recognize that any addition to a school benefits the entire district, creating more flexibility and opportunities to support student success,” R-II district officials said. “We are prepared to meet the challenges of our growing student population and will continue to reassess building capacity as new construction is completed and as updated data becomes available. Our focus remains on providing the best possible learning environment for all students.”
