Very eye-opening facts about student enrollment trends in Pleasanton Unified Schools were a hot topic at our recent Pleasanton 2020 Forum.

According to data provided by Board President Joan Laursen and Acting Superintendent Micaela Ochoa, projections for the 10-year period between 2016 and 2026 indicate very little change in total K-12 enrollment throughout Pleasanton. In fact, the experts project 369 fewer students in Pleasanton schools in 2026 than were enrolled in 2016.

More specifically, there will be a net gain of 88 students per year, for three years, scattered about Pleasanton's 15 public schools before topping out just shy of 15,000 total students in 2019.  Thereafter, for seven consecutive years, Pleasanton's K-12 student population will decline by 90 students per year to 14,359 in 2026.  And yes, the data includes all recent, current and projected new construction in our community.

In short, PUSD will see, on average, about six more students, per year, per school for three years before the trend reverses to about six fewer students, per year, per school for the next seven years;   that's an average of six students per school, NOT per classroom!

The facts clearly do not support assertions by obstructionists in our community who frequent public hearings at City Hall and claim "rampant development and runaway growth" are to blame for overcrowded schools. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The real challenge facing PUSD leadership is not growth, it's managing the challenges of peaks and valleys of elementary, middle and high school populations that ebb, flow and are complicated by resistance to the uncomfortable topic of redrawing school boundary lines to even out enrollment.  

With recent voter approval of PUSD's $175 million facilities bond measure (including $35 million for a new school) it's time to expose the myth about "rampant development," revisit policies surrounding boundary lines, school population requirements, and consider innovative alternatives to traditional brick and mortar classrooms to give all students in our community the very best educational environment possible.