The Claremont Unified School District has a problem that may prove to be detrimental in the future. It is not something that students might expect. It is not bullying, COVID-19, school lunch, technology, or anything that one might suspect. It is enrollment and attendance.
At first glance, the enrollment problem appears irrelevant since Claremont High School still has thousands of students each year, as well as a seemingly endless flow of transfers from different districts. What is concerning is the downward trend over the past several years. Compounding this problem the attendance rate has decreased by six percent since 2020, according to official CUSD attendance documents. At this rate, CUSD may lose funding since the baseline for half of CUSD’S funds come from LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) funds. LCAP funds require some benchmarks involving diversity, equity, attendance, and AP and IB class enrollment. This may eventually snowball into a major issue for CUSD if these numbers do not increase by the 2023-2024 school year.
A multitude of factors might have caused this downward trend in attendance and enrollment. Mainly, the cost of living in Claremont has increased, making Claremont a less affordable place to move to as a family. In fact, the median cost of a house in Claremont is over $800,000, 30% more than the average cost of a house in California. Furthermore, according to the 2020 census, the median age in Claremont is 10% older than the average for California cities, meaning that there are fewer people that feel the need to enroll their children into CUSD schools. Additionally, according to the LCAP survey in the last school year, the attendance problem could also be caused by poor mental and physical health, stress, and a hostile environment in schools since 30% of students do not enjoy school.
If this trend continues, CUSD will likely be drastically affected in the long run. While not everyone at CHS here will see it, younger students could see a cut in funds for CUSD with untold consequences. The reason why this current trend is happening is because of high living costs. While the problem is concerning right now, it would take several more years for CUSD to really feel the effects. By that time, hopefully, the economy will be in a more favorable position for people to move to Claremont. A visible turnaround is already happening, as seen when the number of CUSD students went from 6,600 to over 6,700 in the 2021-2022 year. While this problem may seem large on paper, it would probably not affect CUSD in the long run. At the end of the day, if the situation does not get better, the next generation of CUSD students might not experience what current students have had the privilege to experience.