The Demographic Profile and Enrollment Projections of the Park Hill School District is produced annually to assist school district leaders and planners in annual budgeting, review of district attendance boundaries, and long range planning efforts.
The following reflects some of the significant data points found within the 2020-2021 Demographic Profile:
. Park Hill’s K-12 student enrollment for 2020-2021 is 11,698. This is a 0.09% decrease from the prior year and the first time K-12 enrollment has decreased since the 1983-1984 school year.
. Park Hill’s kindergarten cohort is 812. The district had planned for 891 kindergarteners based on prior year projection models. This smaller than anticipated kindergarten cohort is consistent with local and national enrollment trends for the 2020-2021 school year. Smaller kindergarten cohorts are attributed to the impact of COVID on student enrollment.
. The estimated population of the communities that make up Park Hill School District is 73,569 with the populations within the municipality of the city of Kansas City and the unincorporated portions of Platte County making up over 80% of the population. This makes approximately 16% of the district population school age.
. Based on 2020-2021 K-12 enrollment, Park Hill School District is the 16th largest school district in Missouri.
Since 2017-2018, the Park Hill School District has moved from 18th largest to 16th largest school district in Missouri, surpassing the St. Joseph and Fox C-6 school districts in total student enrollment.
.Of 12 suburban Kansas City, Missouri school districts . . .
*Liberty (+2,173), North Kansas City (+2,146), and Park Hill School District (+2,209) have grown by the highest number of students over the last 10 years.
*Park Hill ranks first in estimated median home value ($271,565).
*Park Hill has the third lowest total tax levy ($5.3955).
*Park Hill ranks second in estimated college graduates or professional degrees within the district population (52.3%).
. Five of 13 grade levels in 2020-2021 are at their highest enrollment ever (5, 7, 8, 9 and 12). Total aggregate enrollment in middle school grades (6-8) and high school grades (9-12) are at historical highs.
. 2021-2022 elementary school program enrollments range from 361 (Line Creek) to 568 (Union Chapel).
Middle school enrollments range from 660 (Lakeview) to 730 (Walden). The enrollment difference between Park Hill High School (1,557) and Park Hill South (1,547) is 10 students.
. The ethnic diversity of student enrollment continues to increase with diverse populations currently making up 33.9% of the total student enrollment (an all-time high).
. The percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch through the National School Lunch Program decreased significantly from 27.1% in 2019-2020 to 20.5% in 2020-2021. This significant decrease in free and reduced lunch qualification is consistent with a local and national trend for the 2020-2021 school year. The decrease is attributed to the federal CARES Act which funds free school lunch for all students for the 2020-2021 school year (due to COVID). Because all students eat lunch for free, there is less need for families to complete the documentation to qualify for the program. This value is expected to increase in future years.
. The mobility of students increased slightly from prior years. Currently, 10.5% of students have been in the school district less than one year, and 20.1% less than two years. This statistic excludes kindergarteners and first graders.