MOUNT VERNON — Knox County’s public schools are serving fewer students than a decade ago. But the decline isn’t happening evenly.
Low birth rates, more educational choices and changing population patterns are reshaping enrollment across the county’s five public school districts.
However, the change doesn’t look the same for every district. Knox Pages interviewed public school superintendents throughout the county to learn more.
What do current rates look like?
According to Ohio School Report Card data, which covers K-12 enrollment, 617 fewer students were enrolled across the five districts in 2025 than in 2015.
That represents a 8.3% decline across all five public school districts. However, the rate varies considerably for individual school districts.
Mount Vernon City Schools has seen enrollment decline by approximately 10.6% between 2015 and 2025, from 3,675 students to 3,285 students.
East Knox Local Schools has declined by 3.8%, while Centerburg Local Schools has declined by 4.9%. Fredericktown Local Schools has declined by 5.9%, and Danville Local Schools has declined by 12.3%.
Danville experienced the largest percent decline among the five districts, while East Knox experienced the smallest.
What is driving this change?
Mount Vernon Supt. Bill Seder pointed to a decline in the birth-to-kindergarten rate, along with lower birth rates overall.
“As fewer students are born that’s going to begin to impact you five years from now,” Seder said. “A lot of districts have really seen the birth to kindergarten rate (decline), the number of children people are having today is less than it has been in the past.”
The same demographic shift is being felt in Fredericktown.
Supt. Gary Chapman said the number of students graduating from Fredericktown is greater than the number entering kindergarten. The current school year welcomed 96 seniors, but only 67 kindergarteners.
“There’s approximately 30 kids there that you’re potentially losing. Just due to graduation or attrition,” Chapman said.
Low birth rates were also cited by East Knox Supt. Richard Baird, Centerburg Supt. Ryan Gallwitz and Danville Supt. Jason Snively.
Baird said the trend is not unique to Knox County.
In fact, according to March of Dimes, Ohio’s birth rate decreased from 63.1 live births per 1,000 women in 2014 to 55.6 in 2024.
“It’s been a long-term change that’s happening, not only across Knox County, but the rural counties across Ohio,” Baird said.
In Danville, the story is a bit more unique.
The village has been resting at a slight population decline since the 2020 census. However, there is one factor that makes population and enrollment numbers a bit more tricky: the Amish.
Snively said that while Danville could see growth, that does not necessarily translate into additional students for the district. Many Amish families choose to send their children to Amish schools.
In fact, two Amish schools have been added to the area within the past year and will serve between 20 to 30 students each, according to Snively.
There are more choices for families
A growing number of educational opportunities has allowed students and families more freedom, but has made it harder for school districts to maintain enrollment.
Perhaps the most well-known alternative education options are online education and homeschooling.
Seder said both have grown following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another option for students is open enrollment.
Open enrollment plays a large part in the fluctuating numbers between districts. The policy allows students to attend a public school or district outside of their neighborhood schools, without having to worry about tuition.
Across Knox County, this policy affects the districts in different ways.
In Mount Vernon, open enrollment remains at a steady rate, where students coming and going remains about the same.
Chapman said open enrollment has remained consistently high in Fredericktown, with 242 students participating last year. In Danville, 106 students have joined the district through open enrollment this year.
Gallwitz said Centerburg has experienced a net positive from open enrollment, although other educational options have taken students away from the district.
One of those options is Ohio’s private-school voucher system.
Unlike open enrollment, which allows students to move between public school districts, vouchers can allow students to attend private schools using state-funded scholarships.
“We have students that live in our district that have never attended Centerburg but they use the voucher to (go to private school),” Gallwitz said.
Housing could provide a counterweight
Where families choose to live and move is another piece of the enrollment equation. In areas where new housing and developments are being built, superintendents suggest enrollment might soon see a positive bump.
In Mount Vernon, multiple major housing projects are underway and some have already opened. According to Seder, around 20 new students have joined Wiggins Street Elementary as a result of The Retreat at Mount Vernon opening it’s doors.
“The good news there for us is we believe we are going to experience some residential growth here,” Seder said.
East Knox presents a somewhat different picture.
Baird said the district has seen some construction in Apple Valley, and the area’s job opportunities in healthcare and manufacturing could bring new families into the community.
“That’s what our families do around here and as a school district, we’re doing our work to prepare our students for that kind of workforce,” Baird said.
Those job opportunities could help offset some of the other population trends, particularly if new workers bring school-aged children to the area.
How has enrollment affected the districts finances, extracurriculars and programming?
The number of students enrolled has a direct connection to a district’s revenue.
“Funding is tied to our district average daily membership or our student numbers. As those numbers fluctuate, so does your revenue source, especially from the state level where they calculate the amount of money they’ll provide on a per student basis,” Seder said.
Fredericktown is already experiencing a direct financial impact.
The district has been placed on a state funding guarantee because of its low enrollment, according to Chapman.
“The funding helps support us, to where we don’t necessarily lose funding due to a drop in enrollment. We’d rather not be on the guarantee, but we are,” Chapman said.
Effects of declining enrollment aren’t limited to district budgets either.
Smaller enrollment can affect extracurricular activities, even when the same percentage of students participate. Fewer students means less members available to join a team, club or other activity.
“The quality of (activities) is still there but having smaller enrollment is inherently going to affect the participation in those things,” Baird said.
There are fewer students and more options
The experience of the five districts are different, but the underlying challenge is largely the same: There are fewer students and more options for education.
For some districts, new housing and job opportunities could bring additional families to the area. For others, the gap between graduating classes and incoming kindergarteners continues to grow.
While school districts have little control over how many children are born, where families move or which educational options they choose, they can control how they respond to the students they have.
