Public school enrollment in the St. Louis region has dropped by more than 2,500 students this year. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, public schools in the three largest counties have lost 9,000 students alone, according to data from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
St. Louis Public Schools is reporting one of the largest drop-offs in enrollment in the area. Once having over 44,000 students enrolled in 1998, the district now serves fewer than 17,000 students, a loss of about 1,000 students per year. This decline has seen SLPS go from the largest district in the region to just the fifth largest in the area. While a few districts are seeing modest growth rates, districts such as Wentzville and Orchard Farm, Lindbergh, Bayless, and Kirkwood are exceptions to the overall trend.
The decline is primarily due to demographic shifts in the region. Ness Sandoval, a demographer at St. Louis University, emphasized that falling birth rates have played a significant role. “We just have fewer children that are being born,” Sandoval said. “And I think we’re going to continue to see a decline because the birth rates are not increasing.” Many families also leave the area and migrate elsewhere, often citing dissatisfaction with school quality as a factor in their decision to move.