As the state’s budget crisis continues to squeeze school districts all over California, Mariposa County Unified is being choked a little more by enrollment that has continued to decline for more than 10 years. A report issued at the March 18 school board meeting shows just how severe the student loss is.

According to the district’s Director of Business Services Linda Levesque, there are a variety of reasons that students left the district last year, but the majority (72 percent) left because they moved or graduated early. More than 200 students left the district for this reason from October, 2008 through October, 2009.

Another 19 percent live in Mariposa County but are enrolled in “alternative” educational settings like charter, on-line or local private schools. About five percent of the students leaving the district attend private schools, while another five percent “drop out.” The balance are scattered throughout a number of charter school programs.

There are also transfers in and out of the district between various public school districts. For example, the geographical location of Lake Don Pedro High School makes it more desirable for 26 students who live in Mariposa County. At the same time, however, some 50 students choose to attend Lake Don Pedro Elementary School but live in Tuolumne County.

Parents can request interdistrict transfers for a number of reasons including child care and employment. The transfers must be updated each year. The largest number of such transfers are in Northern Mariposa County because of the distance to schools. For example, 12 elementary age students attend Tenaya Elementary in Tuolumne County. Six more attend Tioga High School. There are 11 Mariposa County residents who attend Yosemite High School in Oakhurst.

At a March 4 meeting, Acting Superintendent Aaron Rosander commented on the fact that the district has lost more than 600 students since he began working in Mariposa. “It’s amazing,” Rosander said, noting that when he first came to the district in 1994, there were 2,700 students. Now there are 2,100.

“It’s a double-whammy,” Rosander continued, noting that the state’s massive cuts are exacerbated by the district’s declining enrollment.