Mid-Del Schools see student enrollment dip

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

Student enrollment in the Mid-Del School District declined this year.

Figures released from the school district showed enrollment had decreased by 1.19% or 150 students from the previous year. The district had an enrollment of 12,434 students as of Oct. 2, compared to 12,584 in 2022.

Superintendent Rick Cobb said the district typically sees its enrollment wax and wane over the years.

“If you look at the 20 years prior to the pandemic, we have always fluctuated up and down,” he said. “I thought we’d be up a little this year, but overall, it’s not off by much.”

The district’s enrollment has slowly recovered since the pandemic when it lost about 3,000 students. Mid-Del had 13,899 students in 2019-20, before dropping to 11,066 in 2020-21. Enrollment rebounded to 12,436 in 2021-22 and remained relatively flat last year.

Mid-Del saw the largest decline this year at the middle school level. Midwest City and Del City middle schools both saw enrollment drop by more than 7%, while Carl Albert Middle School increased by 2.75%.

Nearly all the elementary schools added students. Cleveland Bailey saw the largest increase of 11.4%. The school added 35 students from last year. Parkview Elementary had the largest decline with 76 fewer students and a drop of 11.19%.

Soldier Creek is the largest elementary school with 844 students and Pleasant Hill is the smallest with 160 students.

The three high schools stayed relatively flat. Del City High School added 2.33% or 27 students. Midwest City and Carl Albert high schools both had small drops.

The Oct. 2 enrollment numbers are used by the state to calculate mid-term adjustments to state aid. The district also monitors enrollment throughout the year to adjust staffing and begin budgeting for the next year.