A recent downturn in attendance numbers at Dallas County Schools means the district will receive less money from the state and federal governments, but interim Superintendent Don Willingham said the drop in funding comes at no surprise to the district and will not impact the educational experience of the students left at the schools.

The overall attendance at the 12 schools within the Dallas County School System dropped from 3,695 students last year to 3,608 this year. The biggest decrease was at Southside High School, which shrank by 45 students since last year.

“It’s really no surprise to us. We might not have seen these exact numbers, but sometimes things happen that cause a shift in population that you can see coming,” Willingham said.

Shrinking attendance in the district over recent years has lead to the closure of Shiloh Elementary School last year. Five Points Elementary School closed the year before because of dwindling populations.

Enrollment determines how many teachers, and the number of teachers employed in the district determines how much funding the district receives for other needs.

“It all comes down to attendance,” he said.

The school system is required to maintain certain ratios of students to teachers in each grade. When there are too few students, Willingham said the district considers if they have the means to retain that teacher before considering letting them go.

“In May, the school board votes to renew or not renew contracts. If we feel a school is losing a teacher unit, we have to determine then if we have enough funds elsewhere to cover the expense of that teacher,” Willingham said.

While the school system works to keep employees on the staff, Willingham there are certain places where they won’t look for money.

“Our rule is we don’t spend any local money on teacher units,” Willingham said. “That’s the rule to live by, because once you start to depend on local money and the economy goes down, you may have a lot of teachers get tenure and you’ll have no way to afford them then.”

The district keeps track of the number of students enrolled at each school every year, something Willingham said helps them predict attendance trends before they occur.

“It’s one thing to see this drop in population, but it’s another thing to see what grades they are in,” Willingham said. “It’s more important for us to gain or lose students in these early grades, because that has a bigger effect on our teacher units.”