Sunman-Dearborn Schools Enrollment Increase Means More State Funding

The school corporation has experienced a growth in enrollment for three (3) consecutive school years.

(St. Leon, Ind.) - After years of declining enrollment, Sunman-Dearborn Community School Corporation has experienced a growth in enrollment for three (3) consecutive school years.

According to Dr. Jackson, Superintendent, the 3-year trend of increasing enrollment is significant since the enrollment forecast model looks back over the last three years to project future enrollment. “We have watched our forecast change significantly over the past three years from declining, to stabilizing, and now to a projected increase for the first time in over 15 years." 

With state revenue based on a per-student amount, the additional enrollment equates to additional revenue from the state. All state revenue is deposited into the Education Fund, which primarily pays for employees’ salary and benefits, and programming costs.

“More state revenue allows us to increase and improve programming. That, coupled with our building project and the $54 million investment the board has made in our facilities, parents and students are noticing and choosing to attend Sunman-Dearborn Community Schools,” Jackson said. In addition to the overall enrollment increasing, Sunman-Dearborn is also seeing less school-age residents attend other schools and more out-of-district transfers choose to attend Sunman-Dearborn.

“The number of out-of-district transfers has nearly doubled over the past several years from around 150 during the 2018-19 school year to almost 300 for the current school year,” Jackson explained. “Parents and students are choosing Sunman-Dearborn for our academics, our extensive college-credit program, fine arts programming, facilities, and our various service organizations like FCCLA, FFA, Student Council and National Honors Society. Ultimately, this all points back to our Strategic Plan. The plan allows everyone in our organization to know where we are going and how we are getting there. It is a roadmap for the future of Sunman-Dearborn.”

Dr. Jackson encourages the community to follow Sunman-Dearborn on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SunmanDearborn.