Enrollment Up At Bourbon Schools

Enrollment is up at Crawford County R-1 to start the 2024-25 school year.

According to the district, there were 843 students enrolled, up from 810 for the 2023-24 school year and 799 from 2022-23.

The district has been keeping a close eye on enrollment ever since the COVID-19 pandemic upended public schools.

Crawford County R-1 had 933 students during the 2019-20 school year, but it has gradually declined since that point.

In the district’s 2024-25 budget, Superintendent Cole Byassee called attention to the enrollment issues, saying that a further decline could negatively effect revenues.

Enrollment has fallen by nearly 200 students since the 2012-13 school year, according to previous reporting by the Independent News. The district had 993 students enrolled that year.

Dr. Kyle Gibbs, who was the superintendent until 2023, told the board in 2022 that he was concerned.

Funding is partially determined on enrollment, Gibbs said.

According to the district, there are 322 students in elementary, 240 in middle school and 281 in high school.

The biggest classes are in ninth grade, fourth grade, sixth grade and first grade, respectively.

There are 80 freshmen, 73 fourth graders, 72 sixth graders and 64 first graders.

Numbers are much lower in seventh and eighth grade, where Bourbon has just 49 and 54 students, respectively.