San Diego Unified School District officials say more students are attending charter schools this year. The news comes as the district releases its official student enrollment numbers. KPBS Reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.
More than 13,000 San Diego Unified students are enrolled in charter schools. That’s 1,000 more than last year. School officials say the number of charter school students increased because three new charter schools opened this year. Officials also say existing charter schools added more grades. District spokesman Dick Van Der Laan says the enrollment shift doesn’t worry administrators.
Van Der Laan: We still have approximately 90 percent of the students enrolled in district schools and ten percent enrolled in charters. We think the competition is healthy we don’t mind that at all.
Van Der Laan says about 117,000 students are enrolled in the district’s traditional public schools this year. Overall the district lost 2,000 students. Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
