(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Community School District Director of Finance Lisa Jones, Wednesday evening, presented the District’s enrollment numbers to the Board of Education. The data included students who were enrolled in- and -out of the District, and BEDS (Basic Educational Data Services) information. Jones disseminated the data from the Department of Education’s website, which shows 1,400 resident public students live in and physically attend school here. There are 51 students who live in Atlantic but attend school somewhere else.

She says 1,531 students are what are called “Butts in seats,” Jones said, or the number of students who receive their education from the Atlantic School District.

The comparison from last year to this year, Jones said, shows the Atlantic District lost 32 students from the Open Enrollment-In, but there were also some gains.

The actual enrollment, though went from 1,414 to 1,452. Jones said that’s because more people are moving into the community and living in the school district, even though some are attending other schools. That means more money coming into the district.

The data breaks down information into several clusters, but overall, Jones said it’s good news for the district. Superintendent Dr. Beth Johnsen added, the district’s pre-school numbers are down, but there are a couple of likely explanations for that.

While the Jack and Jill is free, they are “maxed-out” on capacity, according to Dr. Johnsen. She said the Atlantic Head Start pre-school is maxed-out too, but they could grow up to 20-percent. Anything more than that, she said, and they’ll have to find the space to teach those students, somehow.