DENVER – The surge in immigrants arriving in Colorado last year softened the enrollment decline in the state’s public schools, which for years have been losing students – and funding – as birth rates fall across the nation.
The arrival of thousands of migrant students didn’t fully offset falling enrollment, which dwindled to an 11-year-low in the fall. Statewide, enrollment in preschool through 12th grade fell by 399 children – or less than 1 percent – in October to 881,065 students, according to new data released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Education.
But that drop is just a fraction of the students districts lost the two previous years, when enrollment fell by 3,253 children in 2022 and 1,800 pupils in 2023. Statewide, enrollment in public schools has fallen 3.5% since peaking during the 2019-2020 academic year at 913,223 pupils…