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Overview

DJUSD has experienced declining enrollment for over a decade. Over the course of the 2024-25 school year, the DJUSD Board of Education received updates and analyses of the factors driving our declining enrollment including declining birth rates and challenges to housing affordability and availability in Davis. This drop in enrollment has been exacerbated by a softening in the number of interdistrict transfer applications and an unexpected precipitous drop in kindergarten enrollment for 2024-25 school year.


Board of Education Study Sessions

Starting in October 2024, the Board of Education has undertaken a deliberate approach to studying the challenges and opportunities as they relate to district enrollment and boundaries. After several months of Board Study sessions, the challenge is quite clear. Unless something changes, DJUSD enrollment is projected to continue to drop by hundreds of students (an estimated decline of close to 1000 students in the next ten years), beginning at the elementary level and eventually rolling through the upper grades. This will have devastating impacts for our schools and school funding.

Statement from Board President Joe DiNunzio, Board of Education Meeting, February 6, 2025.


The Housing-Schools Connection

As part of this work, the Board has reviewed enrollment projections for how the District and schools will look in the decade to come. Just what enrollment context we will face, depends heavily on the outcome of two proposed large-scale developments to be decided upon by Davis voters (Village Farms expected vote in November 2025 and Willowgrove (formerly called Shriners Property) expected vote in June 2026). If both developments are approved, together they are projected to add about 1000 new students to our schools over 15 years. This would be positive news for mitigating declining enrollment. However, if the developments were approved, DJUSD would face a very different challenge of seeing large numbers of new students concentrated on the eastern side of town.


The Work Ahead - Changes on the Horizon for 2027-28

After several months of discussions, the Board agreed to a timeline for analysis, community education, community feedback process and decision making. As part of this, a final decision from the Board related to the Boundaries and Planning work is expected in October 2026, so that the changes decided upon can be implemented beginning in the 2027-28 school year.

Once we understand more about the outcome of the two proposed development votes, the challenge our schools will face in the next decade will become clearer. If Village Farms and/or Willowgrove developments are approved, DJUSD will be looking at ways to rebalance boundaries. If both fail to be approved, the District will need a significant restructure to meet a much smaller enrollment size and that would likely include any combination of school consolidation or closure, boundary rebalancing and/or school model adjustments.


What You Can Expect


Community Education
Beginning in the spring of 2024, DJUSD will be embarking on a fact-based community information sharing effort for staff, families and the broader community about our Boundaries and Planning work. Specifically, we will cover:
  1. Data about DJUSD declining enrollment and the reasons behind it
  2. How enrollment is tied to school funding
  3. Current enrollment and future projections for the District and schools
  4. How new housing development projects approved by voters affect our District boundaries and overall enrollment

Community Process to Support Final Decision
To promote transparency and inform a final decision, the Board will be deciding upon a structure for a community engagement process to receive input and feedback from diverse interest groups including staff, students, parents, community members, organizations and partners. The Board is currently reviewing several options for this process. Details and instructions on how to participate in the process will be posted as soon as it is available.

Presentations to the Board

February 6, 2025- Boundary/Enrollment Board Study Session 6- This sixth Board Study Session recapped Board feedback from the last session, outlined a community education effort and provided options for a Community Process that would inform a recommendation for the Board's decision-making. Video link to Board session

January 16, 2025- Boundary/Enrollment Board Study Session 5- This fifth Board Study Session allowed staff to review information from the previous four sessions and receive Board direction on the proposed timeline for decision-making and future work. Video link to Board session

November 21, 2024- Boundary/Enrollment Board Study Session 4- This fourth Board Study Session allowed staff to review information from the previous three sessions and receive Board feedback to inform next steps. Video link to Board session

November 7, 2024- Boundary/Enrollment Board Study Session 3- This third Board Study Session focused on Phase 2 of the discussion process: analysis of the challenges and opportunities over the next decade. Video link to Board session

October 17, 2024- Boundary/Enrollment Board Study Session 2- This session focused on Phase 1 of the Discussion Process and information sharing. Video link to Board session

October 3, 2024- Boundary/Enrollment Board Study Session 1- Staff engaged in information gathering and analysis about boundary area populations as well as enrollment data and trends. Video link to Board session

September 5, 2024- DJUSD Boundary Study Overview- Staff provided an overview of the issue and a possible timeline for Board discussion on this topic. Video link to Board session

Additional Resources

Davis Demographics, MGT Fall 2023-24 Report

Davis Demographic, MGT Presentation March 2024

Presentations & Communications to the Community
Coming Soon
Media

October 5, 2024- Enterprise Article on DJUSD declining enrollment.