Schools’ enrollment drops slightly

All four Pike County schools opened Monday with an estimated enrollment of 3,448 students, a decrease of 48 students from last year. Superintendent Dr. Michael Duncan said there are 768 primary, 779 elementary, 852 middle and 1,049 high school students this year. He said the slight decrease in number of students enrolled benefits the school.’We’re happy to see the numbers staying steady. Growth is very difficult to cope with in these austere times, so we’re very hopeful the numbers sill stay pretty consistent. It’s very advantageous for us to maintain a level of growth less than 2%,’ he said. ‘It helps us bring in a very conservative budget.’