Rockdale Citizen

Photo by Howard Reed

CONYERS -- Overall enrollment in Rockdale County Public Schools is down some from the past few months, but that is normal for this time of year, officials said.

According to the Dec. 3 enrollment count, or day 80 of the 2010-11 school year, 15,974 students were enrolled in RCPS -- that is 76 students less than what was projected at the beginning of this year and 47 students less than the highest reported enrollment count on Oct. 28.

"We know we'll have some ups and downs over the next few 20-day counts," said Lee Davis, chief financial officer at RCPS, in his enrollment report at the Rockdale County Board of Education work session last week.

Enrollment tends to fluctuate at the end and beginning of each semester, and typically, enrollment spikes between the 60th and 80th days of the school year, Davis has said; 16,013 students were enrolled as of the 60th day.

As has been the case throughout the school year, enrollment is off point at many elementary and high schools, without any explanation, although it is close to being on target overall, Davis has said.

There are 238 more elementary students enrolled in RCPS elementary schools than the projected 7,111. There are 86 more students at C.J. Hicks Elementary than projected, 66 at Sims Elementary and 42 at Barksdale Elementary, in addition to several more students at some other schools, according to the most recent enrollment report.

At the high school level, there are 371 fewer students enrolled at RCPS high schools, including 290 students less than projected at Salem High School and 110 less at Rockdale County High School.

More than 3,600 students are enrolled in RCPS middle schools, which is 57 students more than what was projected.

These numbers include more than 800 high school students at the Rockdale Career Academy, more than 90 in the early childhood program at RCA, 73 at Alpha Academy alternative school, 197 at the Magnet School for Science and Technology and 152 at Open Campus high school.

RCPS enrollment is comprised of nearly 60 percent black students, 23 percent white students and 12 percent Hispanic students, in addition to smaller amounts of students of American Indian, Asian, Hawaiian and multi-race ethnicities, according to the enrollment report.

Davis presents a 20-day enrollment count to the Rockdale County Board of Education each month.