POULSBO — Though enrollment numbers may be down overall in the North Kitsap School District, two schools are dealing with higher enrollment than expected.

Poulsbo and Vinland elementary schools saw an increase from the projected enrollment for the 2012-13 school year, according to data released by district administration.

Poulsbo had a projected total student head count of 413. Current numbers show the head count at 460.

At Vinland, the projected total student head count was 420. There are currently a total of 458 students enrolled at the school.  With the increased enrollment, the district is working on moving two teachers — one to Poulsbo and one to Vinland, Superintendent Patty Page said. The move will help reduce class sizes in some but not all grades, she said.

“The principals are being very creative,” Page said.

The district has asked for teachers to volunteer to transfer.

To help address the unexpected enrollment at Vinland, along with an additional teacher, two new multi-grade classrooms were created. Beginning Monday, the school will offer a kindergarten/first grade class and a second/third/fourth class, according to an email from principal Charles McCabe.

Vinland had three grade levels with more than 80 students (89 in second grade, 84 in fourth grade, 80 in fifth grade). There are three second-grade teachers, three fourth-grade teachers (one a fourth/fifth split) and two fifth-grade teachers (and the split teacher).

Sixty-three students are enrolled in kindergarten at Vinland.

Third grade at Poulsbo had the highest enrollment, with 89 students. There are currently three third-grade teachers. A total of 84 students are enrolled in kindergarten at Poulsbo.

Not all of the students at elementary schools are full-time. At Poulsbo, about 417 are full-time students. Vinland has about 426 full-time students. These fluctuations in numbers have to do with all-day kindergarten; about half at each school are full-day, the other half are half-day.

By comparison, the other elementary schools have the following total head count and full-time students: Suquamish, 407 (381.5); Wolfle, 322 (290); Pearson, 284 (269); Breidablik, 294 (269); Gordon, 426 (390).

Administration has not had time to figure out why there was an increase in enrollment at Poulsbo and Vinland, Page said. The immediate goal, she said, was solving class size issues.

Though enrollment is higher than expected at the two schools, it’s still lower than during the 2011-12 school year.

In May 2012, the student total head count at Poulsbo Elementary was 484. At Vinland, the total head count was 444, according to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction website.

District expects to end year with less than 5,900 students
For the 2012-13 school year, the district is expecting to end the year with less than 5,900 full-time students.

Current full-time enrollment is at 5,947.14, but the district expects to lose about 87 students. Twenty-six students enrolled in Chief Kitsap Academy, though enrolled in the district, are not counted as full-time equivalent students. The district expects to lose another 50 students throughout the year, district spokeswoman Jenn Markaryan said.

The district’s original projected enrollment for this year was 5,979 full-time students.

The district’s total head count is 6,248.

According to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction website, the district was receiving $9,594 per student from state, federal, and local taxes during the 2010-11 school year. During the 2011-12 school year, each student brought in $6,422 from the state alone. Of those current 5,947.14 students, 520.46 are enrolled in the Career and Technical Education program.

According to district documents, 210 kindergarten and elementary students are enrolled in the district, but not full-time. Save for a few in higher grade levels, the majority of students not full-time are enrolled in half-day kindergarten.

At the secondary level, 2,088 students are enrolled, with 2,000 being full-time.

The student total head count in May 2012 was 6,536, according to the Washington State Report Card.