This year’s enrollment is 1,195

The Eufaula schools continue to experience a steady growth in enrollment.

On Aug. 17, the first day of classes this year, there were 1,195 students.

Last year, the 2022-2023 school year, there were 1,185 and the year before that there were 1,133 students, according to statistics from the Oklahoma Department of Education.

This year’s Ironhead high school had 400, and of those 87 were seniors.

Principal Heather Combs said 87 may set a record.

Superintendent Monty Guthrie attributes the growth to the population increase and to transfer students wanting to enroll in Eufaula.

“We’re at capacity in some grades or we could have more transfers,” Guthrie said.

The transfers, he believes, are a testament to the quality of education offered in Eufaula.

“We have a very high quality school,” he said.

The high quality attracts high quality teachers as well as students.

However, there are obstacles.

“For instance, shear numbers. We had a 15 percent turnover in staff, which seems to be the same annually,” Guthrie said. “Older teachers are retiring. A lot of people who are coming in are emergency certified, for some of them education hasn’t been their career goal from the first so a lot of those haven’t stayed with it – so we not only have a greater turnover at the experienced end and also at the new employees end as well.”

But, at the start of school, all teaching positions were filled. The only vacancies are four paraprofessional positions and Guthrie expects them to be filled at the next school board meeting.

“So, for the most part we are fully staffed,” he said.

With a record, or near record, number of students, one might expect the first day to be hectic.

One wouldn’t be disappointed.

“On the first day parents bring their children to school and they want to take pictures of that day. And sometimes students weren’t able to come to Meet the Teacher Night, so there were some additional delays,” he said.

And first-day traffic adds to the chaos.

“There’s always the traffic battle, but things went really well thanks to the help from the police department and fire department,” Guthrie said.

Teachers did an outstanding job maintaining order.

“The staff did a really good job helping new students find their way,” he said. “It’s a plus that we were ready to start school at 8:15 at all three sites. Things went very smoothly.”

They were well-prepared after the three days of professional development prior to the first day.

“We focused on reminding them that a lot of students and families out there have to deal with a lot of things that don’t include school,” he said. “That makes school more challenging. We have to adjust and adapt.”

And while tests and their results are important to education, they are only part of the equation.

“There are positives that can be taken from the annual test scores, but that’s not our only goal. Our goal is to grow and develop good citizens, well-rounded citizens, future college graduates, future tradesmen and craftsmen and ladies,” he said. “We’re not trying to box everything into one direction. We want to make good, all-around people.”

This school year there also will be construction projects to contend with.

In the spring voters approved a million-dollar bond issue to make campuses safer.

The projects are expected to take most of the school year to complete.

One of the projects, replacing bleachers in one section of the high school football field, has already been completed.

On Aug. 28 the company that won the bid on building the vestibules at the middle and elementary schools and at district headquarters will meet with school officials to discuss the project.

“We need to figure out how to make it flow and still have school,” he said. “But we have more than one entry to each building, so we’ll just have to rotate. It will be a little inconvenient but it will be alright.”

During the occupational development sessions prior to the start of the school year last week, there were lots of door prizes awarded to staff – thanks to community donations.

“That was a huge morale booster,” Guthrie said. “It was a reminder that the community really does appreciate what they’re doing. This was at all three sites. It was tremendous. It makes a huge, huge positive impact on the kids and our staff.

“I just want to take this opportunity to thank the community.”