The Ravenswood City School District has experienced staggering student enrollment decline in the last two decades, a new district report shows.

More than half (55%) of the exodus has been attributed to changing demographics in East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park, according to the Jan. 26 staff report. The rest can be attributed to families choosing to send their students to other districts and other schools (including newly opened charter schools).

"We're not serving 100% of our community, we think there's a lot of kids going to other programs," said Chief Business Officer Will Eger during a Jan. 26 school board meeting. "If all those kids came to our programs we'd have to open a lot more seats."

Superintendent Gina Sudaria said one of the district's priorities is recruiting children to attend district schools.

In 2021, about 37% of students who live in district boundaries were enrolled in district schools and 33% were enrolled in charter schools. Back in 2000, 77% were enrolled in district schools and only 7% attended charter schools. Students also transfer out of the district through the Tinsley Voluntary Transfer Program.

In 1997 the East Palo Alto Charter School opened, followed in 2017 by KIPP Valiant Community Prep and The Primary School.

The highest peak of enrollment in the district was in 1998, with about 5,000 students enrolled, according to the district. The district enrolled 1,530 students during the 2022-23 school year.

"This is not the same Ravenswood that was 10 years ago," said Board President Jenny Varghese Bloom. "That's one thing we as a district need to continue to talk about. ... How do we bring students back? ... It is an amazing school with amazing teachers and with amazing staff."

Trustee Mele Latu said wants to form a board subcommittee formed solely to focus on enrollment.

Youth population in the region

Neighboring school districts have also seen (or expect to see) population declines, but not as severe as Ravenswood's dip.

The Menlo Park City School District student body is expect to shrink to around 2,500 students in 2027, down 7.4% from 2,700 today, according to a December report.

The number of children under 5 years old living in the Ravenswood district suggests that there will likely be further enrollment declines. These potential declines could be offset by an increasing number of students enrolled in the district, according to staff.

Board members did wonder how new housing projects in the Belle Haven neighborhood could impact enrollment. Eger noted that it's difficult to predict how many families will move into those units and attend district schools.

Watch a video of the Jan. 26 meeting: