Elgin-based School District U-46 enrollment is down for the sixth consecutive year. U-46 Chief of Staff Brian Lindholm told the school board this week that the current number of students is 34,286 as reported to the Illinois State Board of Education in late September. That’s 578 fewer than in the 2023-24 academic year, a drop of about 1.6%. Enrollment had been 38,014 in the 2019-20 school year and has decreased every year after that, according to a chart Lindholm presented at the Monday meeting. The lower numbers are due primarily to declining birth rates, he said. Additionally, the Elgin Math and Science Academy, a charter school that offers kindergarten through 8th-grade classes, has drawn away 450 students who would otherwise be enrolled at U-46, he said. Enrollment forecasts project the district will continue to see annual decreases of several hundred students for the next several years until enrollment bottoms out at about 30,000 students, Lindholm said. It’s expected there will be about 2,200 students at each grade level when things level off. Currently, the district has 3,000 students or more at each high school grade level across all campuses but significantly lower numbers in elementary and middle school grades, he said. Despite the decrease, District U-46’s student count remains second highest in Illinois. Only Chicago Public Schools has higher enrollment. Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.