Enrollment in the Pittsburgh Public Schools is down 1,180 students over the last school year, with more than half of the drop -- 630 students -- coming at district high schools.

The district's official enrollment Sept. 28 was 28,265, about 4 percent lower than the 2006-07 enrollment of 29,445. Figures cover enrollment in kindergarten through 12th grade; pre-kindergarten is not part of the official count.

Superintendent Mark Roosevelt's new accelerated learning academies and new K-8 schools, critical parts of his academic improvement plans, lost 201 students and 279 students, respectively.

Comprehensive middle schools and older K-8 schools saw smaller losses. Overall, enrollment was down at all types of schools except at the 18 K-5 elementary schools, which together added about 40 students.

Mr. Roosevelt said he did not regard losses in the new schools as public repudiation of his improvement initiatives. He said the losses were modest compared with high schools, where he has yet to do much work.

School board members Daniel Romaniello Sr. and Thomas Sumpter said some families have yet to connect with the district's improvement plans, and Mr. Romaniello said years of enrollment declines aren't easily halted.

"The same way you didn't lose them overnight, you're not going to get them back overnight," he said, adding he's heartened by burgeoning pre-kindergarten classes.

Falling enrollment is a problem in urban districts nationwide. Pittsburgh's enrollment was 39,603 nearly a decade ago, and the state has projected that the district could drop to 25,829 students by 2009-2010.

The city's economic problems and population drain, the district's academic travails, the emergence of charter schools and the lure of suburban districts all share blame for the enrollment decline.

Some parents also have complained about Mr. Roosevelt's changes, including conversion of 10 K-5 schools into K-8 schools, and had threatened to remove children from district schools.

Still, the declines were nearly even with what district officials projected. The drop followed a roughly 5.5 percent decline from 2005-06 to 2006-07.

Nine out of 10 high schools lost students in the past 12 months.

The high schools made up 31 percent of the district's students a year ago but accounted for 53 percent of the enrollment decline since then. The high schools had 9,067 students in 2006-07 and 8,437 on Sept. 28.

Pittsburgh Allderdice in Squirrel Hill experienced the biggest drop -- 137 students, or 8 percent of its 2006-07 population.

Though it did not meet federal achievement benchmarks for 2006-07, Allderdice is regarded as one of the city's best high schools. Student scheduling problems led to a rocky start in 2006-07. The school also had three principals during the school year and absorbed dozens of transfer students from lower-performing Westinghouse High School.

Overall, district high schools have low test scores and a 35 percent dropout rate. Mr. Roosevelt has written a plan and hired staff to overhaul the schools. Also, he and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl have announced plans for a Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program they hope will help attract new families to the district and retain those already here.

Seven of eight accelerated learning academies and nine of 10 new K-8 schools saw enrollment fall.

Pittsburgh Weil is a learning academy and a new K-8 school. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette included Weil's loss of 22 students in calculating the enrollment drop for both types of schools.

Enrollment at the academies was 3,695 in 2006-07 and 3,494 on Sept. 28, a 5 percent drop. The academies represented about 13 percent of the district's enrollment last school year but accounted for 17 percent of the decline.

The new K-8 schools made up about 15 percent of the district's enrollment last school year but accounted for about 24 percent of the enrollment drop. Enrollment was 4,532 last school year and 4,253 on Sept. 28.

Mr. Roosevelt said the figures show there was no "flight" from the new schools. He said the losses reflect parents' concerns about particular schools or neighborhoods, but aren't a rejection of the school models. He said other factors, such as demolition of public housing units in certain neighborhoods, also affected enrollment patterns.

The academies have an extended learning day and school year. Mr. Roosevelt closed some middle schools and shifted students into the new 10 K-8 schools, believing the students would behave and perform better in elementary buildings.

Pittsburgh Faison, a new K-8 school with widespread discipline problems last school year, lost 101 students. That was about 12 percent of its population.