Enrollment numbers up slightly at Royal Valley, down at other districts

Of Jackson County’s three school districts, only Royal Valley saw an increase in its student “headcount” from the 2025-26 school year to the current year — and a modest one at that, according to reports on the Sept. 21 headcount date from school districts in the Jackson County area.

Royal Valley USD 337 Superintendent Aaric Davis said his district saw an increase of 10 students, from 828 students last year in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade to this year’s 838-student count on Sept. 21, this year’s official headcount date owing to the Kansas State Department of Education’s regular headcount date of Sept. 20 falling on a Sunday this year.

“Our overall enrollment increased slightly, primarily because of growth in our preschool programs, and K-12 enrollment remained steady,” Davis said. “Based on these numbers, we anticipate a modest increase in funding compared with our July projections.”

But elsewhere in the area, Holton USD 336 saw its pre-K-through-12th-grade headcount fall by 91, Jackson Heights USD 335 saw 32 fewer students in this year’s count and Atchison County USD 377 saw its 2026-27 count drop by 20 from last year, according to the headcounts provided by each district.

The annual headcount from each school district in Kansas is used by KSDE to determine how much state aid each school district will receive. Those numbers undergo an extensive auditing phase, and state aid is formally finalized during the following spring, KSDE officials noted.

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