SALT LAKE CITY — An early and unofficial enrollment snapshot suggests the Utah public school headcount is slightly down from a year ago, with a notable decrease in kindergartners.

Statewide, public school enrollment as of Sept. 9 — which includes district schools and public charter schools — dipped from 667,940 a year ago to 665,790, a decrease of 0.3%, according to the estimates.

Kindergarten enrollment dropped by 4.7% from a year ago, sinking from 49,489 to 47,142 this fall.

State Superintendent of Operations Scott Jones said the kindergarten numbers suggest “families chose not to necessarily enroll their kindergarteners into schools now. We’re also hearing, though, that that’s changing.”

Kindergarten enrollment is optional in the state of Utah.

Enrollment at public charter schools climbed about 2.2% from the previous year up to 78,978 from 77,290, or an increase of 1,688 students.

The enrollment snapshot unveiled during a special meeting of the Utah State Board of Education on Tuesday also suggests a three-fold increase in students transferring from public schools to home schooling, up from 914 a year ago to 2,754 this fall.

There also was significant increase in students enrolled in online or virtual schools, up 9,343 from a year ago.

“This equates to a single year increase of 63% in online or virtual school enrollment,” the report states.

Part of the increase can be attributed to state lawmakers authorizing state education officials to lift the enrollment caps of two charter schools that solely offer online learning, Jones said.

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Utah Virtual Academy’s enrollment cap was boosted to 3,550, an increase of 1,500 students, while Utah Connections Academy’s enrollment cap increased by 1,000 students over its former cap of 1,250 students. The schools asked for flexibility due to long waiting lists from families seeking other education options this fall.

The numbers also include students who shifted to online learning options offered by their school districts or charter schools, Jones said.

The Sept. 9 snapshot was intended to get an early read on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Utah school enrollment, Jones said.

“We just wanted some kind of way to, as early as possible, see where these trends were going and give ourselves a little bit more lead time” to plan and make adjustments, Jones said. Enrollment drives the state school funding formulas.

The state’s official headcount will be conducted on Oct. 1, as it is traditionally. The final numbers from that count likely won’t be available until mid-October, Jones said.

Estimates suggest the Sept. 9 count is down about 9,000 students from earlier, pre-pandemic estimates for the Oct. 1 count of 674,792. The true numbers will not be known until the Oct. 1 count is completed and analyzed, Jones said.

The Sept. 9 count indicates a decrease in projected enrollment due to reduced migration into the state, perhaps as much as 20% lower than the previous year.

The numbers also indicate a slight increase in student transfers to private schools, up 205 students from a year ago when 411 students transferred to the private school count.

Board member Carol Lear questioned the numbers of students shifting to home schooling or private schooling.

“I think you have to rely a lot on parent affidavits for home schools and those are notoriously lacking,” Lear said.

Aaron Brough, the state board’s data and statistics coordinator, said the numbers were derived from when students exit school the prior school year.

“I’m just concerned about how hard those numbers are because most parents would not have known in the spring where they were going,” she said.

Brough said state officials and public schools closely track where students go and “there are a number of reports and regulations where we have to track these students,” Brough said.

The counts “are not 100% perfect, because we still know that there are a number of students who do disappear without a trace, if you will,” but for the most part, “the numbers that do come to us that exited to home school or private schools are very accurate,” Brough said.

Jones said the Oct. 1 headcount will provide a clearer picture of COVID-19’s impact on enrollment. Schools will be asked to conduct another snapshot in mid-January to track students migrating to other educational choices or returning to school.

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