In a report distributed at the Nov. 9 school board meeting, the Penn Hills School District provided details about a 9 percent decrease in student population this school year.

The report, compiled by Director of Child Accounting John Plazarin, showed that district school enrollment had been declining by 100 to 200 students each year since 2003 but dropped by 435 this year. Current enrollment in the district's six schools is 4,518.

Mr. Plazarin said the leading reason for the decrease is a rise in cyber and other charter school enrollment, a trend that many school districts are experiencing. An increase in private and parochial school enrollment also is a factor.

The district reported an increase in the percentage of minority and low-income students.

The number of Penn Hills students in cyber and other charter schools this fall is 380, up from 298 last school year. In 2002, the number of students enrolled in cyber and other charters was 39.

Of the 25 charter schools that Penn Hills students attend, the ones that enroll the most district students are Pennsylvania Cyber, Propel East in Turtle Creek and Agora Cyber.

Home schooling in Penn Hills has steadily decreased, from 55 students in 2002 to 16 currently.

Cyber and other charter school enrollment is troublesome to school districts not only because it may suggest dissatisfaction, but also because of the cost to the districts.

Tuition for Penn Hills students who attend charter schools is $9,800 per year for general education students and $18,000 for special education.

The state reimburses the district for only 28 percent of that cost.

As a result, Penn Hills pays about $3 million per year for charter school students.

To stem the tide of students opting for cyber charter schools, Penn Hills and a few other districts have taken steps to offer their own cyber programs.

Penn Hills has entered into a agreement with Virtual Learning Network for the current school year. Fifty students are enrolled.

Sarah McCluan is a spokeswoman for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, which provides services for 42 suburban school districts in Allegheny County. The AIU offers the PA Learners Online cyber charter school.

She said she believes the increases that districts are seeing in cyber school enrollment may not reflect dissatisfaction with local schools as much as the availability of options that were not available a decade ago.

Personal needs of students, such as medical conditions, and preferences for new models for learning are also factors, she said.

The dynamic between traditional schooling and cyber schooling is "a complex and ongoing conversation," she said.

The increase in the number of minority and low-income students is also a trend in Penn Hills schools. Minority enrollment this year is 60.4 percent, an increase of about 3 percent. The largest minority category is African-American, followed by multiracial and Asian.

Low-income enrollment, as measured by the use of the free and reduced lunch program, is about 1 percent higher than last year. The increase since 2000 is about 17 percent.

A change in demographics in a school district "doesn't mean anything across the board," said Mike Race, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

But school districts do "look at demographics to determine what the needs of their students are," he added.

Districts with high percentages of low-income students are eligible for additional supports, such as federal Title I funds.

In response to declining enrollment, Penn Hills is downsizing its facilities. It closed two elementaries in 2008, leaving four open.

By 2012, the district will have just three schools -- a new high school for grades nine through 12, Linton Middle School for grades five through eight, and a new elementary center for kindergarten through grade four.

The municipality of Penn Hills has been losing population for three decades, said Chris Blackwell, of the planning department. The 2000 census reported a population of 46,800, down from 51,000 in 1990. America FactFinder, a service of the U.S. Census Bureau, estimated the 2008 population to be 44,061.

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