Council Briefing: Enrollment Rising in Roseville Area Schools

Enrollment is soaring in Roseville public schools.

At Monday’s Roseville City Council meeting, Roseville Area Schools’ Superintendent John Thein and Board Chairwoman, Kitty Gogins presented a report on the district’s curriculum and student body.

While enrollment increased a total of three percent between 2004 and 2009, the last two years have seen a five percent increase in the district’s student body.

“Our kindergarten class is the largest we’ve had since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, and this is the largest number of students we’ve served since Ronald Reagan’s first term,” Thein said.

The district’s racial diversity is also rising, and each year the number of students of color—primarily Black, Hispanic and Asian—increases by two to four percent.

“We do have a difference in proficiency between our students of color and our white students,” Gogins said, before detailing several programs in place designed to “close the performance gap.”

Gogins also spoke about the district’s effort to cater to high-performing students.

“We’ve tried to make our middle schools pre-AP (Advanced Placement) programs to make all of our students think of themselves as AP scholars,” she said.

Here is a round up of some other items that came up at this week's Council meeting:

• The council scheduled a public hearing for Feb. 27 on whether a water ski course and jump should be placed on Lake Owasso in 2012.
• The council authorized the fire department to use $100,000 to pay for demolition expenses in the teardown of old fire station No. 1.
• The council discussed the strategic planning suggestions proposed at its Jan. 30 meeting.