Lee County Public Schools had 2,593 students in kindergarten through 12th grade on Sept. 30, 111 fewer than on the same date last year. That is a drop of about 4%, according to the division’s September membership report, presented to the school board on Oct. 8. The report does not include pre-kindergarten.
In the division’s September reports on BoardDocs since 2019 (the 2019 report also lists 2018), this fall’s total is the lowest of nine years and the 111-student loss the largest, by our count.
| Sept. 30 count | Students | Change from prior year |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 3,025 | — |
| 2019 | 2,977 | −48 |
| 2020 | 2,909 | −68 |
| 2021 | 2,812 | −97 |
| 2022 | 2,771 | −41 |
| 2023 | 2,799 | +28 |
| 2024 | 2,788 | −11 |
| 2025 | 2,704 | −84 |
| 2026 | 2,593 | −111 |
That is 432 fewer students than in 2018, about 14%, and the third straight yearly decline.
The state counts differently. Its School Quality Profile also uses Sept. 30 but includes pre-K, giving 2,850 students for 2025-26, as we reported Oct. 25. Without pre-K, it is 2,694, 10 below the division’s report for that date. As of Oct. 27, the profile had no figure for this fall.
The smallest kindergarten class in the reports
The division counted 177 kindergartners this fall, down from 205 a year ago. In the division’s reports from 2018 through 2024, that count ranged from 208 to 233.
The five elementary schools lost 115 students combined. Dryden fell from 249 to 207, about 17%. Flatwoods lost 29, Elk Knob 19, St. Charles 17 and Rose Hill 8. Lee High was down 20 and Pennington Middle 8.
Elydale Middle and Thomas Walker High each grew by 13, and Jonesville Middle by 6. The county’s 2025 comprehensive plan had already raised the possibility of consolidating smaller schools.
Below the number in the budget
The count also falls short of the budget’s figure. In July, Superintendent Brian Dean said the budget would be based on 2,660 students, which would change the division’s Required Local Effort and Required Local Match, according to the July 9 minutes.
The revised budget sheet the board approved that night lowered the enrollment figure from 2,670 to 2,660. It splits each Required Local Effort program, such as basic aid, into state and local money, and the state’s share of those programs fell from $27,033,639 to $26,880,276.
In September, Dean told the board the August count of 2,596 was below budget. The Sept. 30 count is 67 students short of 2,660. The documents we reviewed do not say what that means for state aid.
Safety rules after an August lockdown
Safety has come up at every regular meeting since August. On Aug. 13, the day of an incident at Jonesville Middle School, Dean said staff locked down the school and called authorities, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was investigating. Citing student and staff privacy, the August minutes do not describe what happened. That night the board approved school crisis plans and a revision of its metal detector procedures, both 5 to 0.
On Sept. 10, the board unanimously approved another update. The 2023 procedures made students subject to screening. The marked-up draft in the September packet says all students entering the schools will be screened daily, and that bags will, rather than may, be checked. Its opening still mentions random and periodic use. It deletes three sections:
- a rule that students not be told in advance when or where screening would happen;
- a rule that let staff screen only every second or third person when lines got long;
- a rule that barred staff from singling out a student without reasonable suspicion.
Security money also shifted. After the state declined to renew a grant for security officers at the elementary and middle schools, the board voted July 20 to dissolve its capital reserve fund, and supervisors later added $1,877,156, mostly state money, to the school budget, as our county budget story reported. The Oct. 8 agenda listed a safety discussion, with no documents.
A leave-sharing plan for staff
Also on Oct. 8, the board took up a proposed policy letting employees donate sick days to co-workers facing a medical emergency. Under the draft, a donor could give up to 10 sick days a year and must keep at least 20. After using all their own leave, a recipient could get up to 60 days a year for their own illness or 20 for a close relative’s.
Minutes of the Oct. 8 meeting had not been posted as of Oct. 27, so the outcome of that item and the safety discussion is not yet public.
A new tennis building at Lee High
In July, the board voted 4 to 1, with Chair Tim Varnadore opposed, to award the Lee High tennis building contract to Wallberg Construction of Abingdon. A staff memo says it was the only bid; it lists no amount. On Sept. 10, Assistant Superintendent Stacey Belcher said the building was about 75% complete and expected it to be finished by the end of September or soon after, according to the Sept. 10 minutes.
Regular meetings start at 6 p.m. at the School Board Office, 155 Vo-Tech Drive, Jonesville, with public comment. On Oct. 8, the board let Dean fill job openings through Nov. 12. Agendas, reports and approved minutes are on the division’s BoardDocs site.
