CHS is now dealing with a problem of bringing in students to the school for them to sign up, and get moving into a new year. And with COVID making parents feel anxious about a 100 percent safe learning environment, CHS is feeling a little uneasy.

       Wesley Paxton, Principal of CHS has observed that students are not enrolling at CHS and that impacts the school budget. And how that can impact the school budget bleeding.

       “A job I have is counting the October money that has come in for students enrolling, then I have to make an adjustment off of our basic enrollment of how many students have enrolled during the school year,” said Paxton, “And if those projections and adjustments are lower than last year’s October counts then I have to pay back the district the money they gave me from the start of the school year.”

       Because of COVID-19 last year’s enrollments were low, so Paxton said he had to pay the district back $214,000 because enrollment was down more than 30 plus students. And another reason is parents want to have their children in a 100% safe learning environment.

       “Some of the parents have sent their children into a private school or a different online school so they can feel that they are learning during the pandemic,” said Paxton, “and so because of those choices I have lost some of those students for the school year.”

       With the leak of some students having to transfer into different schools, teachers are getting paid a little less because of students that have not turned up for the school year.

       “Even though some students have left us it is not over for the teachers, we still have tons of ways to get new students enrolled into CHS,” said Paxton, “and some of those ways are hosting a show case for the students to see the programs we have to offer here.” 

       And with those classes students are able to talk to the teachers of those classes or programs. Paxton knows that last year was tough, but using the ways he uses to convince students to join CHS should be no big problem. 

       “We also participate in the art competitions here in Colorado so younger students about to enter high school can see what CHS can accomplish,” said Paxton, “but because of last year, they didn’t have the chance to see anything so that’s another reason why enrollment numbers have been low.” 

       Even though CHS’s budget has been getting a little low, Paxton still has to stay on his toes so students and teachers don’t go without something unless they need it to keep the teaching and the studying on track.

       “We are competing against very large high schools to make sure students have the best education possible,” said Paxton, “some schools have a lot of stuff sorted out for their future graduates and we do too. But to keep moving forward I have to stay vigilant about what choices to make.”

       With this school year soon coming to an end Paxton believes after it ends students will return back to CHS even after what has happened. And with those students coming back, the budget will be back up again.

       “We get at least 20 to 30 students each year from Platt Canyon High School because of the programs that we can offer to them,” said Paxton, “with the new year rolling around students will soon be returning open armed to CHS because parents and students alike can put their trust in us.