After decades of continued growth, East Cobb public school enrollment projections are expected to remain relatively flat for the near future.
A demographic report presented to the Cobb Board of Education in February showed the fastest growing areas in Cobb County continue to be in the Smyrna and South Cobb areas.
It is the focal point for new and upcoming construction projects in the Cobb County School District.
Pockets of growing enrollment in East Cobb have resulted in expansions and new classroom space in some schools.
New Cobb Education VI SPLOST calls for replacement of main classroom building at Sprayberry High School, as well as expansions and additions to Dickerson and Dodgen Colleges, and Bells Ferry, Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt Primary Schools.
Dr. James Wilson, former superintendent of Cobb and Fulton, told school board members in February that Cobb County was back to where suburbanization trends began in the 1950s.
“He just moved,” Wilson said. “He moved around, and he came back south.”
Counterclockwise trends then shifted to East Cobb in the 1980s, then to North Cobb and West Cobb.
He showed a land use map of the county showing that most of Cobb’s undeveloped areas are in the western and southern areas. Cobb Commission Districts 2 and 3, which include East Cobb, have less than 5,000 acres of undeveloped land combined.
“We’re running out of land,” Wilson said, noting that the continuation of the type of large-scale residential development of earlier times, including Chimney Lakes in East Cobb “just isn’t there.”
He cited 2020 census statistics showing a sharp decline in county permits since the start of the economic recession in 2007.
“We’re not going to go back to the building of 2003 and 1998 and so on,” Wilson said.
Wilson also showed council members a chart (above) breaking down the school age groups in each high school cluster, with Campbell High School’s attendance area seeing the biggest increases.
These numbers are also based on 2020 census data; the high number of ages 15-19 in the North Cobb area is due to students enrolled at Kennesaw State University.
“It allows us to plan accordingly,” Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said during the presentation, “where we might need a new high school, a new elementary school, and what the trend is telling us about the families.
“They can start in one region and then move to another region. So these are very important data that we can use. »
Wilson also showed enrollment numbers by school since the start of COVID-19. Enrollment in the Cobb School District has fallen to around 107,000 from nearly 112,000 students before the pandemic.
You can watch a replay of the registration presentation by clicking here then go to the working session of February 10; the presentation begins at around 53 minutes.
You can read the presentation slides by clicking here.
The tables below show five-year enrollment figures for East Cobb schools, beginning with the disrupted 2019-2020 school year, including the current 2021-22 school year, and projections for the school year 2023-24.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Ability | 19-20 | 21-22 | 23-24 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
addison | 662 | 628 | 581 | 570 |
Ferry Bells | 712 | 743 | 719 | 754 |
Blackwell | 837 | 729 | 641 | 677 |
Brumby | 1162 | 957 | 956 | 948 |
Davis | 800 | 601 | 610 | 647 |
East Coast | 1087 | 1240 | 1128 | 1063 |
eastvalley | 562 | 779 | 673 | 766 |
garrison mill | 700 | 674 | 677 | 642 |
Keheley | 600 | 477 | 413 | 453 |
Kincaid | 762 | 678 | 578 | 710 |
Mount Bethel | 937 | 1098 | 992 | 1094 |
mountain view | 962 | 843 | 773 | 827 |
murdock | 962 | 987 | 935 | 933 |
Nicholson | 637 | 480 | 406 | 468 |
Ferry Powers | 900 | 411 | 391 | 422 |
rocky mountain | 612 | 613 | 562 | 557 |
Sedalia Park | 912 | 732 | 621 | 605 |
shallow falls | 962 | 681 | 591 | 711 |
Sope Creek | 1162 | 1157 | 1058 | 1131 |
wood crest | 612 | 560 | 482 | 528 |
Tritt | 937 | 919 | 807 | 907 |
CCDS Totals | 56,702 | 49,091 | 45,943 | 49,901 |
COLLEGES
Ability | 19-20 | 21-22 | 23-24 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Danielle | 1175 | 1015 | 906 | 1104 |
Dickerson | 1187 | 1307 | 1208 | 1354 |
Dodged | 1187 | 1297 | 1208 | 1246 |
East Cobb | 1387 | 1458 | 1297 | 1355 |
Hightower Trail | 1012 | 1068 | 1022 | 1083 |
mabry | 1162 | 951 | 887 | 958 |
McCleskey | 937 | 708 | 630 | 657 |
simpsons | 962 | 899 | 868 | 858 |
CCDS Totals | 28,770 | 26,533 | 25 206 | 25,558 |
Ability | 19-20 | 21-22 | 23-24 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kel | 2025 | 1502 | 1496 | 1483 |
Lassiter | 2087 | 2070 | [1945[1945 | 2286 |
Pope | 1912 | 1943 | 1855 | 1790 |
Sprayberry | 2087 | 1778 | 1890 | 1957 |
walton | 2812 | 2655 | 2689 | 2757 |
Wheeler | 2187 | 2179 | 2296 | 2534 |
CCDS Totals | 36,168 | 35,220 | 35,949 | 36,881 |
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