Bucking the National Trend, DMPS Enrollment Continues to Rise
While most larger, more urban school districts across the nation are seeing a decline in student enrollment, Des Moines Public Schools is going against that trend with a second straight year of an enrollment increase of more than 500 students.
Preliminary numbers reported by DMPS to the Iowa Department of Education indicate a total of 32,061 students enrolled for the 2012-13 school year, an increase of 515 over last year.
Last year DMPS enrollment increased by 571 students, the largest increase of any school district in Iowa.
| 2012-13 | 2011-12 | 2010-12 | |
| Number of Students | 32,061 | 31,546 | 30,975 |
| Increase over Previous Year | +515 | +571 |
DMPS is the largest school district in the state, educating nearly twice as many students as the second largest district.
Under state law, certified enrollment is used in the formula that determines state funding for public school districts. Certified enrollment is based on the number of students living in each school district. It also includes the “weighting,” or additional funding for students in certain programs, such as students who are English Language Learners.
The certified enrollment count is taken by Iowa school districts on the first day of October each school year. Official numbers are confirmed by the Iowa Department of Education and reported later this year, meaning there may be small changes to these preliminary figures.
