Is Minto School at Risk of Closing?

In a previous post I shared information about projected enrollment.  Today I would like to share what Minto School's historical enrollment has been for the last 11 years.  By looking at the chart below you can see that the enrollment has remained steady over the last decade.

In 2004-2005 school year enrollment was 238.

The current school year enrollment is 231.

For the statistically minded:

The Mean (average) for the past eleven years has been 226 students.

The Median for the past eleven years has been 223 students.

The lowest enrollment year was 211 in 2007-2008 school year.  The highest enrollment was 239 in 2012-2013. Therefore the Range is 28.

In a commentary provided by Dr. Paul Stremick he notes, "That there are 177 operating school districts in the state of North Dakota.  Based on average daily attendance Minto school’s enrollment ranks 85^th out of the 177 which is very close to the middle.  In the past, the state of ND offered financial incentives for consolidation.  It no longer does so.  In the past, efforts from the legislature have been unsuccessful to close K-8 school district.  This would lead me to believe the state will never be able to force consolidation."  

Dr. Paul Stremick is the Superintendent of North Border School District.  He played an instrumental role in shaping the state school funding formula during 2007 in response to Williston Public Schools v. the State of North Dakota and continues to have an active presence in state legislative discussions related to school finance.  He also teaches school finance to school administrators for the University of North Dakota.

Data obtained from the Minto Public School