Monday Message: 3/11/2024

Dear PYLUSD School Community,

Today, I would like to share some very good news with all of you. As you may know, the lifeblood of all school districts is student enrollment. Specifically, California school districts are funded through a formula, which is based on the number of students enrolled. As such, student enrollment directly leads to the opening and closing of schools; it determines the number of teachers and support staff a school district can hire; and it supports the quantity and quality of programs a school district can offer. Throughout my career, I have seen school districts forced to close schools and lay off thousands of employees as a result of declining enrollment.

Currently, over 60% of the 1,000+ school districts in California are experiencing declining enrollment. For the past two years, the declines have varied widely throughout the state, with the biggest drop of 2.6%, or 34,000 students, in Los Angeles County, followed by 2% in Orange County. As you can see in the chart below, California enrollment is now at its lowest student enrollment point in the last 25 years.

Here in PYLUSD, the district is budgeting for a decline in enrollment of 400 students per year for each of the next three years. This 400-student decline in the future is predicated on a similar per-year decline that our district has been experiencing over the last several years.

What does this mean for our district financially? PYLUSD receives approximately $15,000 per student from the state and federal government. Thus, a loss of 400 students per year equates to roughly a decline in revenues for our district of $6,000,000 per year. Therefore, the district would be operating with $18,000,000 less dollars in 2026-27 than we are now if we truly decline by 400 students in each of the next 3 years. These steep declines are impossible to simply absorb and would directly lead to cutting student programs, eliminating teachers and support staff, and ultimately right-sizing our schools.

NOBODY wants this to happen! Our amazing employees don’t want to lose their jobs, our students and families don’t want to see their community schools close, and we don’t want to cut some of our amazing extracurricular programs.

So, what can we do to combat this projected decline of 400 students per year? Well… we can either continue to do what we’ve always done and hope things change or we can be proactive and innovative in our approaches moving forward. I am a firm believer that hope is not a strategy, and it will not be our way out of this.

The answer will be a multi-faceted approach that will attract and retain families! And I am pleased to report that this critical work is already well underway and includes the following actions:

1) An Investment in Early Education

Our investment in early education includes the building and opening of preschools throughout our district. This year, we opened two new preschools at Bryant Ranch and Wagner, which were almost immediately filled up with preschool-age children. Next year, in 2024-2025, we will open three more new preschools at Glenview, Morse, and Tynes elementary schools. Early returns, which I will speak to later, show this investment in early education has seen huge enrollment growth in our district.

2) Marketing

This year, we put together a marketing team to advertise via social media, billboards, and boots-on-the-ground work. I have instructed staff to travel to all of our new housing developments like Cenza in Placentia (640 units feeding into Morse) and provide the offices with PYLUSD enrollment information. When families move into our boundaries, we are doing everything we can to enroll them with us ASAP rather than attending a local private school or alternative option.

3) Innovation

Education is changing, and we must continue to change with it. Parents want specialized educational options for their children. The opening of the Orange County School of Computer Science (OCSCS) has done exactly that. The current enrollment of Bernardo Yorba Middle School is approximately 550 students, and the projected enrollment at the OCSCS at Bernardo Yorba next year is roughly 850! This increase demonstrates the demand for innovation and forward-thinking.

Furthermore, we are in the process of opening an independent study athletic pathway called the Universal Sports Institute. This innovative program will attract elite student-athletes throughout Southern California who wish to train and study independently while receiving their education in our school district. More information about this new program will come in the near future.

So what is the potentially good news? Our current "new student enrollment" year to date versus last year is significantly higher! Below is a look.

New Student Enrollment January 1, 2023 - March 6, 2023

New Preschool Enrollment = 71

New TK and K Enrollment = 170

New 1-12 Grade Enrollment = 19

New Student Enrollment January 1, 2024 - March 6, 2024

New Preschool Enrollment = 197

New TK and K Enrollment = 429

New 1-12 Grade Enrollment = 42

To date, PYLUSD has enrolled 126 more preschool students and 282 more TK-12 students than we did last year at this time! Is this an aberration? Only time will tell. While there is no certainty it will buck the trend of enrollment declines, it is a very encouraging sign that could be indicative of the work we are doing to effect change in PYLUSD.

It’s an honor to serve as your superintendent of schools!

Respectfully,

Dr. Alex Cherniss

Superintendent of Schools

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District

Putting Kids First

acherniss@pylusd.org

Join the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District at the upcoming Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) Community Forum on Monday, March 18, 2024, at 6 p.m. An in-person public meeting will be hosted to provide input related to the LCAP. This presentation will be a repeat of the virtual Community Forum offered on February 1, 2024. PYLUSD staff will share outcomes and action plans for the upcoming school year. Insights and ideas regarding continuous improvement efforts are welcome during this meeting. The meeting will take place in the Board Room at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District located at 1301 E. Orangethorpe Ave. Placentia, CA 92870.

March 12, 2024 — Board of Education Meeting

March 17, 2024 — REACH Foundation’s Shamrock n’ Run

March 18, 2024 — School Choice Request Period for TK & Kinder Students Begins

March 18, 2024 — LCAP Community Forum

March 27, 2024 — Principal for a Day Event

March 29, 2024 — School Choice Request Period for TK & Kinder Students Ends

April 1-5, 2024 — Spring Recess

April 16, 2024 — Board of Education Meeting

May 5-11, 2024 — Teacher Appreciation Week

May 19-25, 2024 — Classified School Employee Appreciation Week