AISD enrollment exceeds projections, still declines

The Austin Independent School District reported Wednesday that its student enrollment for the 2016-2017 school year has exceeded projections as AISD serves about 83,200 students instead of the estimated 82,700 projected. Nevertheless while good news, student enrollment is still down slightly compared to the 83,800 served this time last year. AISD’s decline in enrollment has been previously considered expected due to multiple factors, including Austin’s rising cost of living.
However, AISD staff credited the district’s better-than-expected student body numbers to a 2014 AISD Board of Trustees policy that allowed out-of-district student transfers. These transfers mean students not living within AISD’s boundaries can apply to attend AISD schools. This year, there have been 7,819 new transfer requests and AISD has approved 90 percent of them. Staff says when combined with previous transfers, about 16,000 kids attending AISD schools — or one in five — are out-of-district transfers.
AISD staff also credit the district’s new marketing efforts for helping to reduce student body decline, stating that the targeted 30 schools exceed enrollment projections by a total of about 200 students.