Osseo District Points to Charter Schools As Reason for Slight Enrollment Dip

The Osseo School District is projecting a slight dip in total enrollment next year. Officials say that’s partially caused by families sending their children to charter schools.

Osseo District 279 officials say this will be the first year in the last five that the district has seen an enrollment decline. While enrollment in secondary schools continues to grow, elementary school enrollment dropped this year and is projected to decrease again next year.

“We have seen a decrease in students that are opting for private schools as well as for other public school districts, and we have continued to see a rise in students that are choosing charter schools, and that in particular could be some of the rationale for why we’ve seen a decrease over the last couple of years at the elementary level in particular,” said Ron Meyer, executive director of finance and operations for Osseo Area Schools.

The Osseo School District, however, does project overall enrollment to increase again in 2021. Officials attribute future growth to housing development in the northwest part of the district.

“Our trend has either been stable or growing over the last several years,” said Meyer. “And the same is true this year. Our enrollment is very stable this year overall.”

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