Pocatello-Chubbuck trustees adjust budget to account for lagging enrollment

POCATELLO (IdahoEdNews.org) — Lower enrollment led Pocatello-Chubbuck trustees on Tuesday night to adopt an adjusted budget with a $1.3 million decrease in state revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30.

The district budgeted for a decrease in three support units this school year, but the district’s enrollment has decreased to the equivalent of 11 units, said Jonathan Balls, the district’s director of business operations, in a Tuesday interview.

Support units determine state funding, using a formula largely based on average daily attendance.

To compensate for the decrease in state revenue, the district is delaying a $1.2 million adoption of a new math curriculum, Balls said.

Internal enrollment fell from 11,235 to 11,089 — a decrease of 146 students — between October and March. At the end of last school year, in April 2025, the district’s internal enrollment report showed 11,361 students.

Balls said decreasing enrollment is due in part to smaller family sizes.

“Those older classes are graduating more than the kindergarten and first grade classes that are coming in,” he said.

Courtney Fisher, the district’s director of communications, said the issue is multifaceted. “I think that you can look statewide and see, even nationally, that school districts are facing declining enrollments, and I think that you can’t just identify one factor contributing to that.”

Trustees conducted a public hearing before adopting the budget adjustments, but no one commented.

The declining enrollment will likely lead to reduced staffing next school year, but Fisher said no final decisions have been made. The district will wait to see how many teachers retire at the end of the school year.

“Just aligning our staffing to our enrollment is the best way to say that,” Fisher said.

The district was not blindsided by the decreased enrollment this school year, Fisher said. Leaders knew the incoming cohort would be smaller.

“It’s just you never know until the rubber meets the road,” Fisher said. 

This article was originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on March 18, 2026.