AUSTIN, Texas — Despite welcoming hundreds of new students this school year, enrollment at Austin Independent School District is expected to drop over the next decade.
According to KVUE's media partners at the Austin American-Statesman, a demographic report showed Austin ISD currently has close to 81,000 students enrolled in area schools.
But over the next five years, the report predicts that the district could lose nearly 4,600 students. And by the 2030 school year, Austin ISD could lose almost 7,800 students. That's a 10% drop over the span of a decade.
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The report claimed the reason behind the potential decline is due to the increase in housing property values. The report also said that a significant number of new home sales last year were condominiums and townhomes, which typically have fewer children.
Experts did say that they think enrollment will trend back up as Austin's millennials start having kids.
"Enrollment is going to turn around in this district. The question is when," Ryan Robinson, the demographer for the City of Austin, said. "It feels to me like it might be seven, eight, nine years away."
In November, the school district's school board voted to close four schools starting in 2020. The four schools that will close include Sims Elementary, Metz Elementary, Pease Elementary and Brooke Elementary.
Education Austin and AISD's teachers and employees' union have come out against the school closure plan.
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