Student enrollment has been on the decline in the Renton School District for years.

During the Oct. 8 Renton School Board meeting, Chief of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Dr. Jon Stadler gave a presentation on enrollment, staffing and a “General Update” for the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.

The presentation showed projection data that is conducted each fall for the following school year, considering birth rates, housing developments, program offerings, school trends and cohort trends, along with trends and impacts in the region.

According to the data, continued enrollment has been in overall decline in Renton schools for the past five years. Transfers out of the district have been trending up and the birth rate in King County has been declining over the last 11 years, with a pre-pandemic Renton birth rate of 5%, and a Renton birthrate of 4% since October 2020.

Enrollment trends at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year showed 14,524 for K-12 full-time equivalent (which means the amount of time each student is enrolled). That number peaked at 14,624 in October 2020, and then fell to 14,277 by June 2021.

The numbers changed significantly throughout the 2021-22 school year, with 13,564 at the beginning of the year, a peak of 13,989 in October, and then a drop to 13,818 by the end of the school year.

The following year, enrollment rates rose to a peak of 14,050 in October 2021, but have been dropping ever since. When looking at the difference between the enrollment peak in October 2020 (14,624) and enrollment peak in October 2024 (13,580), the data shows a decrease of 7.1 percent.

For the 2025-2026 school year, the data shows that enrollment was 13,202 in September and is now 13,417 in October. This latest October peak reveals a decline of 1.2% from last year and an overall decline of 8.25% — 1,207 students — since October 2020.

One reason given for the decline in enrollment is a family’s choice to transfer students to other districts. Last October, accepted and pending transfers out of the district totaled 982, which has increased to 1,181 for October 2025. The district reports that around 41% of all transfers are to the Bellevue School District.

From the presentation, the school district is looking to make adjustments, which includes weekly detailed enrollment reviews beginning in August, consideration of the K-3 funding model, an analysis of staffing and class size (increase, reduce and shift) and a focus on school and student impacts.