ROCSD Monday Update with Ron Lorenz, Enrollment Down, Stellar Oaks Growing, Fall Sports Wrap-Up

ROCSD Monday Update with Ron Lorenz, Enrollment Down, Stellar Oaks Growing, Fall Sports Wrap-Up

Town & Country Sanitation sponsored Monday’s conversation

 

 

Red Oak Community School District’s certified enrollment is down about 19, Stellar Oaks Virtual Academy continues to grow, and the district is still waiting on new state performance-profile benchmarks, Superintendent Ron Lorenz said Monday.

 

The October 1 certified enrollment — the number that drives per-pupil funding for the following year — is down roughly 19, in line with recent trends. That figure is still being reconciled because of weightings and fractions of students. Lorenz said the district focuses more on served enrollment, the actual number of children in desks who must be taught, fed, and transported, when making programming decisions. A special-education count that accounts for supplemental weightings finished Friday and is also being cleaned up.

This is the first year the state will take a second enrollment count in January and average the two numbers for funding. “We really don’t know what to expect,” Lorenz said. Current-year numbers will not appear on the Iowa Department of Education website immediately; there is typically a lag before the spreadsheets are updated.

 

Stellar Oaks

Stellar Oaks Virtual Academy, the online program hosted by Red Oak, is growing. Enrollment is around 140 to 150, higher than the peak last year, and the number changes every few days. The program was rebranded over the summer from Stellar Virtual / Iowa Virtual Academy to Stellar Oaks to distinguish it from another online program. The growth has pushed the district past the student threshold that increases revenue beyond the $100,000 minimum guarantee in the contract. Lorenz said the district is still in a phase where the work required is significant relative to the return, but the revenue is covering a couple of teachers and the hope is that the numbers continue to rise.

 

Fall sports

Cross country produced four state qualifiers and two medalists at the Class 2A meet in Fort Dodge on Friday. Emmanuel Grass, who won the state-qualifying meet at Treynor, finished ninth in 16:27.8. Hayden Heitbrink was 13th in 16:31.2. Osiel Pedersen and freshman Mallory Jenkins also advanced; Jenkins finished 67th and was four seconds short of a school record. Lorenz credited the entire team and coaching staff for a strong postseason after a challenging year of weather, cancellations, personnel changes, and injuries.