{"id":1381,"date":"2026-10-02T16:24:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T16:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/?sjc_news=sjsds-declining-enrollment-reflects-long-term-county-trend"},"modified":"2026-10-02T16:24:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T16:24:33","slug":"sjsds-declining-enrollment-reflects-long-term-county-trend","status":"publish","type":"sjc_news","link":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/?sjc_news=sjsds-declining-enrollment-reflects-long-term-county-trend","title":{"rendered":"SJSD\u2019s declining enrollment reflects\u00a0long-term county\u00a0trend\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media__item media__item--image\">\n<figure class=\"image__caption\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kq2.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/enrollment-down-web-860x484.jpg\" alt=\"enrollment down web\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"media__image\"><figcaption class=\"photo-credit\">Prajukta Ghosh | KQ2<\/figcaption><figcaption>Robert Hedgecorth is featured in the photo <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kq2.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/St.-Joseph-School-District.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV)&#8211;&nbsp;The St. Joseph School District\u2019s official enrollment for the 2026-27 school year is down from last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The official count date for school enrollment is the last Wednesday of September.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Robert Hedgecorth said the drop has been a trend for nearly 25 years, and he explained some of the reasons behind it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur county has declining birth rates, and so as you have newer classes coming in \u2014 or newer cohort groups coming into kindergarten classes \u2014 that are lower than previous years, which continues to bring a trend,\u201d Hedgecorth said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hedgecorth also pointed out that students have different educational goals. Some may choose to graduate early, while others may decide to homeschool or attend a private school. Those choices can also contribute to declining enrollment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>KQ2 will update this story with a total breakdown of the enrollment numbers.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kq2.com\/news\/2026\/10\/02\/sjsds-declining-enrollment-reflects-long-term-county-trend\/\">SJSD&#8217;s declining enrollment reflects\u00a0long-term county\u00a0trend\u00a0<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kq2.com\">KQ2 | St. Joseph, Missouri News, Weather &amp; Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prajukta Ghosh | KQ2Robert Hedgecorth is featured in the photo ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV)&#8211;&nbsp;The St. Joseph School District\u2019s official enrollment for the 2026-27 school year is down from last year. The official count date for school&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1382,"template":"","class_list":["post-1381","sjc_news","type-sjc_news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sjc_news\/1381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sjc_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/sjc_news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjosephconnect.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}