By PETER HUSSMANN
The Newton school district will lose another 137 students over the course of the next five years, according to Iowa Department of Education enrollment projections included in packet information provided to Newton school board members in advance of Monday's meeting.
The projections show Newton's current certified enrollment of 3,202 falling to 3,065, or 4.3 percent, by the 2014-2015 school year.
Ten years ago, the Newton school district had a certified enrollment of 3,553 students, the IDE information provided to school board members shows.
Jasper County's four other school districts are also projected to lose students in the coming years.
The projections show Baxter losing a total of 25 students over the five-year period, from 369 to 344 (6.8 percent). Colfax-Mingo is projected to decline by 59 students (7.2 percent) from 819 to 760.
The projections show Lynnville-Sully declining by the largest percentage at 14.4 percent with a projected enrollment five years from now of 381 students compared to the 445 currently certified. PCM is expected to drop 3.1 percent, from 1,029 to 997 five years out, or 32 students.
Overall, the total decline in projected Jasper County school populations is 317 students, or 5.4 percent, from 5,864 to 5,547, the state education department information shows.
The projections, however, don't always mesh with a school district's real-world experience. Previous Newton Independent reports in January 2009 showed gains for the PCM district as did the January 2010 report on county-wide school enrollment numbers. Other districts in the county have posted gains in previous school years, though all except PCM were down this year.
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