Lakeland Enrollment Numbers Changing

As the Rathdrum population grows, more and more students are enrolling in Lakeland High School every year. 

The number of students attending Lakeland was starting to grow, until covid hit. Principal Derrick says, “We were in the upper 700’s, and we started this school year around 840, but it has gone down. A lot of students have left this year to go to other schools. However, the numbers are definitely growing.” 

A senior who attended the Lakeland school district since fifth grade has also noticed the school growing. Emma Fuller had issues with enrolling in some of her classes, which is a problem she has not had before. “The classrooms are definitely more full. There has been a big increase in students. The classes are a little louder, but that hasn’t been too bad.” 

Although the number of students that have enrolled the past few years is unclear, the numbers have grown over the past few years. In 2019, it was estimated that the school year started with about 810 students. 2020 started with about 20 more students at 830, despite covid-19 being a big issue. This year started as the highest with about 860 students. 

Principal Derrick is not worried about the school not having enough space. “The school would max out at about 900 students, and right now we are only in the lower 800’s. So we won’t have to worry about building new facilities until we reach that maximum.” 

The school gets paid from the state for every student that attends, so if more students were to come then more teachers could be hired. 

Mr. Derrick is grateful for all of the new teachers Lakeland has received this year. “We are starting to offer more classes now that we have more teachers this year. Ast year we had a shortage of teachers, but we have been able to hire more teachers this year since the number of students has increased.” 

Derrick feels that he is prepared for whether the amount of students increases or decreases. Covid has caused a slight adjustment of classroom services. 

The school does not have as many students since more kids are doing online now. “Since online school is more popular now because of covid, there will always be those kids that choose to stay home and do school online rather than coming into the actual school building.” 

The amount of Lakeland students has increased over the past few years, but Derrick feels comfortable and prepared for any changes in the number of students.