HERMANN — The 85 students who crossed the stage during the 2023 graduation ceremony at Hermann High School could be the largest graduating class for several years to come in the Gasconade County R-1 School District — a clear example of the long-term task facing district administrators as they do some long-range planning, as outlined by the numbers reported at this month’s R-1 Board of Directors meeting earlier this month.

Superintendent Geoff Neill recently noted during a meeting of the Hermann Regional Economic Development Corporation board session that the district enrollment for this school year is down by about 30 students, a continuation of the enrollment erosion that’s been taking place in the past dozen years.

Hermann High School Principal Andy Emmons reported at the R-1 board meeting that as of the first of this month this year’s senior class had an enrollment of 81. The number of students in the other high school classes are lower than that — 11th grade had 73; 10th grade had 75; 9th grade began the school year with 62. The high school began this school year with an enrollment of 292, compared to the 323 listed in September of last year.

But the numbers that are most troubling for R-1 administrators as they do some long-range planning for staff-and-space needs are in the lower grades.

At Hermann Middle School, there were 287 students enrolled at the start of this month: 4th grade, 54; 5th grade, 45; 6th grade 58; 7th grade, 68; and 8th grade, 62, as reported by Principal Matt Mueller.

In the elementary grades, the district is holding its own from last year’s enrollment, falling off by only one student from the 245 enrolled in September of last year. As reported by Principal Kendra Brune, the sizes of the main elementary classes hover around the 50-student mark: Kindergarten, 52; 1st grade, 48; 2nd grade, 55; 3rd grade, 53. Pre-K 4-year-olds had 21 students; Pre-school had 10 and the Early Childhood Special Education class had five.

What that means for the district is that as enrollment continues to erode, so, too, does the amount of education dollars received from state government. And that means a greater reliance on the tax dollars generated locally for the district’s operations.

It is numbers such as these, among other factors, that have organizations such as the Regional Economic Development Corporation and the Hermann Area Chamber of Commerce focusing their support on efforts to develop additional housing units in the Hermann community.

The R-1 superintendent often has said he has fielded phone calls from potential families with school-age children — and potential classroom teachers — who would like to live in the community to attend classes and teach in the district, only to tell them there is a lack of available housing.

There are a couple projects under way that would result in several new multi-family units; however, those efforts appear to have slowed in recent months.