Danville Superintendent: Enrollment decline is a regional problem

DANVILLE (WSLS 10) - Danville Public Schools is facing a roughly $1 million shortfall due to declining enrollment.

The school district's latest attendance reports show that nearly 200 fewer students enrolled this fall than expected.

That means the school district could receive about $1 million less from the state than the district budgeted for this fiscal year.

Superintendent Dr. Stanley Jones said the district will now evaluate current vacancies to try to make up some of the money.

He also emphasized that this is not just a problem in Danville and is the result of factors that are, for the most part, beyond the district's control.

"The loss of enrollment is a regional phenomenon," Dr. Jones said. "That regional phenomenon has to do with everything from decline in birth rates to the economy of the region of Virginia that we're in."

Additionally, he pointed out that the state also over-projected the district's enrollment for this fall and he says he expects the enrollment number to improve when the next report comes out in the spring and therefore to make back some of that roughly $1 million the district is at risk of losing.