Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) enrollment continued its downward trend during online learning, with an unexpected drop of 6,000 in kindergarten enrollment.

The decline in kindergarten enrollment is about three times as large as in recent years for, said a Los Angeles Times report. But this drastic decline in LAUSD's kindergarten enrollment is most accurate in the school system's lowest-income neighborhoods.

Overall, enrollment in LAUSD went down by about 11,000 students. This is roughly the same number of losses in each of the past two years.

For the kindergarten level, roughly 6,000 fewer students were signed up to take online classes, according to a Los Angeles Daily News article. Before this year, it only went down by about 2,000 students per year, said the school district.

So far, this year has 36,914 enrolled kindergarteners.

Drivers in LAUSD Enrollment Drop

 "Overall enrollment is down at about the same level as prior years," said L.A. schools Sept. Austin Beutner during a Monday morning broadcast. The main drivers of the decline are the lack of affordable housing in the communities served by their schools and the continued decline in birth rate, he said.

Beutner said enrollment at the kindergarten level has the most notable change. With this, the school district suspects that many households lack to ability to provide full-time support at home for an online school.

As many young students are absent from the great numbers the school district has now, it can reflect the hardships that families face during the pandemic. Health concerns and parents' inability to guide children through distance learning are just some of these challenges.

In a Spectrum News report, Beutner emphasized that the district is still working with families to make sure all students can take part. They plan to do so with loaned computers and internet access if needed.

Very young learners need the presence of parents for in online learning, noted Beutner.

In addition to a drop in kindergarten enrollment, some LAUSD principals are also reporting low attendance in live online transition. It is most evident in kindergarten through first-grade classes.

According to Juan Flecha, president of the union representing principals, there are about 12 to 15 students per grade level.

 "I think parents are finding it extraordinarily difficult to manage their personal and professional lives while somehow keeping the tykes engaged on a device," Flecha said.

Attendance Also Declines for LAUSD

With virtual learning well underway for the district, Beutner said that average daily student attendance is 88.4%. Last year, it stood at 91.8%, said a Los Felix Ledger report.

He also said about 4% of all students and their families have not yet made any connection with their school community since remote learning began.

The school district noted "gaps" that can be seen among students who have "historically been hard to serve" such as low-income students.

According to state law, parents are not required to enroll their children in kindergarten. But they do need to put children to school starting in first grade. Parents are also allowed to homeschool their children, as per state law.

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