According to a press release on Jan. 28 from the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), the number of students in public schools in Oklahoma continues to rise steadily.

Collected Oct. 1, the annual student count shows that 698,586 students were enrolled in Pre-K through 12th grade for the 2018-19 school year, a half-percent increase over the previous school year. This year’s enrollment shows an 8 percent increase over the last 11 years.

Student enrollment for Okmulgee County schools for the 2018-2019 school year included:

Twin Hills: Pre-K - 30; KG - 34; 1st grade - 36; 2nd grade - 28; 3rd grade - 36; 4th grade - 29; 5th grade - 23; 6th grade - 29; 7th grade - 35 and 8th grade -

38. Total enrollment: 318.

Henryetta: Pre-K - 76; KG - 82; 1st grade - 116; 2nd grade - 92; 3rd grade - 86; 4th grade - 77; 5th grade - 87; 6th grade - 85; 7th grade - 91; 8th grade - 92; 9th grade - 106; 10th grade - 79; 11th grade - 63 and 12th grade - 70. Total enrollment: 1,202.

Okmulgee: Pre-K - 69; KG - 118; 1st grade - 110; 2nd grade - 95; 3rd grade - 99; 4th grade - 95; 5th grade - 92; 6th grade - 95; 7th grade - 94; 8th grade - 72; 9th grade - 81; 10th grade - 73; 11th grade - 92 and 12st grade - 91. Total enrollment: 1,276.

Beggs: Pre-K - 83; KG - 62; 1st grade - 74; 2nd grade - 63; 3rd grade - 62; 4th grade - 77; 5th grade - 84; 6th grade - 69; 7th grade - 74; 8th grade - 76; 9th grade - 92; 10th grade - 81; 11th grade - 76 and 12st grade 81. Total enrollment: 1,054.

Preston: Pre-K - 34; KG - 45; 1st grade - 42; 2nd grade - 34; 3rd grade - 34; 4th grade - 46; 5th grade - 41; 6th grade - 40; 7th grade - 39; 8th grade - 35; 9th grade - 47; 10th grade - 39; 11th grade - 41 and 12th grade - 36. Total enrollment: 553.

Schulter: Pre-K - 5; KG - 11; 1st grade - 9; 2nd grade - 9; 3rd grade - 12; 4th grade - 8; 5th grade - 17; 6th grade - 14; 7th grade - 17; 8th grade - 6; 9th grade - 10; 10th grade - 6; 11th grade - 7 and 12th grade - 9. Total enrollment:

140.

Dewar: Pre-K - 37; KG - 48; 1st grade - 39; 2nd grade - 30; 3rd grade - 34; 4th grade - 39; 5th grade - 27; 6th grade - 34; 7th grade - 34; 8th grade - 27; 9th grade - 23; 10th grade - 23; 11th grade - 26 and 12th grade - 23. Total enrollment: 444.

Wilson: Pre-K - 22; KG - 12; 1st grade - 16; 2nd grade - 19; 3rd grade - 15; 4th grade - 17; 5th grade - 21; 6th grade - 15; 7th grade - 19; 8th grade - 19; 9th grade - 14; 10th grade - 19; 11th grade - 18 and 12th grade - 14. Total enrollment: 240.

“As our student population grows year after year, Oklahoma must be prepared to meet a greater set of education challenges than ever before,” Joy Hofmeister, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, said.

“We must continue to focus on such priorities as a robust pipeline of trained educators in our classrooms, adequate funding to reduce class sizes and a counselor corps to address the trauma our children bring into the schoolhouse and the individual career planning that will ensure they have the opportunity for a successful future.”

The ranking of the 10 largest public school districts remained unchanged from 2017-18, with Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Edmond topping the list, respectively. Other districts by descending order of size are Moore, Putnam City, Broken Arrow, Norman, Union, Midwest City-Del City and Lawton.

Currently, Oklahoma has 512 traditional public school districts, 1,802 traditional school sites, 26 charter schools and four virtual charter schools.

Demographic polling showed a slight shift in the racial makeup of Oklahoma’s schoolchildren. The number of those claiming two or more races, Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander ethnicities rose, while the Caucasian, black and American Indian populations dropped.

All differences were fewer than one percent. The largest race identified in polling was Caucasian at 48.47 percent.