Fairfield schools hope to reverse declining enrollment

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Community School District is taking steps to address its declining enrollment, especially the number of students it’s losing to open enrollment.

Over the summer, the school district released its enrollment figures for the 2024-25 school year that show the district was a net loser of 112 students through open enrollment, getting 102 students to open enroll in but losing 214 students who open enrolled out.

But perhaps more important than the negative open enrollment figures is the declining number of young people who live in the district. The Fairfield school district has been steadily losing students for about 20 years, according to the Iowa Department of Education’s enrollment data.

The department’s website shows enrollment data going back to the 2000-01 school year, and it shows that Fairfield’s certified enrollment was stable for the first five years of the 2000s, rarely much more or less than about 2,070 students. But beginning around 2005-06, Fairfield saw a noticeable decline in enrollment each year, and now almost two decades later the enrollment has fallen 600 students to a certified enrollment of 1,480 for the 2024-25 school year.

Fairfield Schools Superintendent Zach Wigle said fewer students means fewer dollars from the state, which bases its funding for school districts according to that district’s enrollment. For the 2025-26 school year, per pupil funding from the state is $7,988.

Increasing the number of children in the district is a tough task for the school board, but Wigle said the board can address the lop-sided open enrollment imbalance, where the district has been losing over 100 students. He said when the district gets a request from a parent to open enroll out, school officials reach out to ask why, to see if there’s something the district could do differently to avoid those open enroll outs.

“We check in with families who left last year,” Wigle said. “There could have been a conflict in their peer group, or their parents could have relocated for jobs. For some it’s location, if they live close to Van Buren or Mt. Pleasant or another district.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com