CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) released fall school enrollment numbers for all 48 districts and it shows Sweetwater County is down by 523 between both school districts.

According to a WDE press release, on October 1, 2020, Sweetwater County School District No. 1 reported 5,141 students, which is a decrease of 338 students from October 1, 2019, report of 5,479 students.

The same WDE reports shows on October 1, 2020, Sweetwater County School District No. 2 (SCSD No. 2) reported 2,359 students, which is a decrease of 185 students from its October 1, 2019, report of 2,544 students.

Sweetwater County’s districts are not the only two in the state seeing a decrease in enrollment.

Fall school enrollment in Wyoming’s 48 school districts dropped from 93,832 students in the 2019-20 school year to 91,938 during the 2020-21 school year, the release states. This is the first time enrollment has dipped below 92,000 students since 2012.

Fall K-12 enrollment data for Wyoming public schools for the 2020-21 school year is available online.

Wyoming’s public schools lost a total of 1,894 students. While 10 districts saw an increase in enrollment, 38 districts decreased enrollment from the previous year. 

Wyoming school districts that saw the largest increase in enrollment offer statewide virtual education programs:

• Niobrara County School District No. 1 with a 76.8 percent increase, or 607 students.
• Park County School District No. 16 with a 75.5 percent increase, or 74 students.
• Big Horn County School District No. 1 with a 68.1 percent increase, or 729 students.

“Wyoming had a structure in place to offer full-time virtual education to students before the COVID-19 pandemic began,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow. “I am proud of Wyoming educators for their commitment to offering in-person instruction and I’m grateful that parents and families had a range of public, home, virtual, and private options.”

The WDE has prepared the following reports that break down the enrollment statistics:

• Historical Fall Enrollment 1991-92 to Present.
• Districts ranked by enrollment total.
• Districts ranked by enrollment per grade.
• District demographics.

This data was gathered from all school districts throughout the state in a snapshot performed on October 1, 2020. The agency does not collect numbers of students enrolled in home or private school.