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It is probably not going to get any better unless the economy turns around because pre-school population is decreasing.

According to U.S. Census population estimates, the 0-4 population in Sanilac County has dropped from 2,788 in 2001 to 2,609 in 2005. The elementary age (5-9) estimates show drops from 3,133 in 01 to 2,910 in 05.

Deckerville, Brown City and Marlette saw student enrollment continue to drop in the official February count required by the state. The state bases funding on student enrollment, although the February count is only worth 1/4 of the total. Typically enrollment does drop in the winter.

Deckerville is down 21 students this winter and also dropped 36 last fall.

“It is the same old story, down, down…It is amazing how it has dropped,” said Deckerville Superintendent Alan Broughton.

“We were at 953 students in the fall of 1997-98 (and were at 712 as of last month). We will be a Peck, CPS in a couple years. That is why we’ve applied to the NCTL (sports league).” Deckerville is currently in a Class C league. The NCTL is Class D.

“It is the economy in this area. People are moving away to areas where the parents can find jobs,” Broughton said.

“When it started we had a lot of family farms with four or five kids, they’re gone. They’re just not here anymore…There are also a couple really large families out there that are home schooling,” Broughton added.

He said the big loss this winter was 10 students who enrolled in the Carsonville-Port Sanilac Alternative Education Program.

“We got down to eight kids in alternative ed and we incorporated them in regular school and the Career Center. Obviously we are going to have to take a look at alternative ed…(On the plus side) we are positive on schools of choice (enrollment),” he said.

“We downsized the budget. That’s why we are in good (financial) shape even though we are losing kids. That is why we make the tough calls (on cuts),” he noted.

Marlette’s student enrollment dropped by 13 in February and 57 in September. They are down to 1,265 students in kindergarten through high school. In the fall of 2005-06 the student population was 1,335.

“There are no jobs and there are a ton of houses for sale. I know of additional families that will be moving this school year,” stated Marlette Superintendent Duane Lange.

“In our case we’ve got to get our staff in line with the student population, it’s a tough one,” Lange said, referring to his plan to lay off 10 teachers next year. Due to some part-time teachers, that will result in 7 1/2 fewer positions.

“We’re fortunate we’ll be able to maintain programs and the projected class sizes are in the mid-20s,” Lange added.

Brown City’s enrollment dropped by 27 in K-12, by 22 including the alternative school. They were down 25 students in September.

“We enrolled eight since the (February) count, but they might not be here in September,” noted Superintendent Jerry Steigerwald.

“We’ve been going down the last couple years, but not quite that fast. A lot I know are moving out of state and a lot are talking about it, not to have jobs, but they have better offers (than the position they have),” he added.

With the exception of Peck, the other school enrollments vary from the small increases to small decreases.

The smallest school district in the county continues to do well.

Peck is up five students this winter for a total of 631 on top of an increase of 15 in September.

A larger than normal kindergarten class and an additional 53 schools of choice students bumped their count in 2006-2007. Peck gained 116 students through schools of choice and released 63 to other schools.

Croswell-Lexington is hoping their big enrollment drops are over. They saw counts drop by just four students this winter and three last fall.

“Our previous decreases were 75, and 62. We’re pretty happy. Last year (Sept. 2006) we were not down as much as we feared. February typically you do lose a little. We adjusted for class size a yea ago,” said Cros-Lex Superintendent Dr. Chuck Smith.

“We try to do projections, but when you look at it is move in and move out,” he said, referring to the transient population in the region.

Sandusky’s student population is bouncing back and forth.

February’s count was down 24 (1,295) from the September count (1,319). However, they had enrolled almost 29 more students last fall than the district showed the previous February.

Carsonville-Port Sanilac’s enrollment is up, due to their alternative education program, which now has 66 students. The district is up 14 students although they lost five in K-12. In September the district was down seven students. The K-12 enrollment is 575.