ROCHELLE — With Rochelle Township High School’s declining enrollment over the past several years and with projections showing a steady decline for the next few years, some are asking why are there fewer students in the Rochelle school systems, and what this could mean to the budget and staffing levels.
A total of 932 students are enrolled this year at Rochelle Township High School compared to 941 students last year. This number is down approximately 240 from 1,173 in the 2006-07 school year.
With the latest projections shared during the August board meeting, enrollment figures could be as low as 834 by the 2026-27 school year.
This year’s enrollment for the elementary school district, which encompasses kindergarten through eighth grades, stands at 1,469. This figure represents a decrease of 42 students from last year.
“The budget is impacted when enrollment goes down because some of our funding from the state is based on a per-student basis,” said Jason Harper, who now oversees both the high school and elementary school districts. “Obviously, with fewer students come fewer funds in some situations. We hope to offset that by managing our staffing numbers.”
Harper said that staffing will have to be cut down if the enrollment keeps dropping, but he added that the schools have stayed out in front of the situation.
“Fortunately, we have seen the decline in enrollment coming for a few years due to projections,” Harper added. “This has allowed the district to strategically plan for staffing changes by not hiring back positions when we experience retirements.”

According to Michelle Pease, community development director for the City of Rochelle, city leaders have been working on a housing incentive program, but nothing has been finalized.
“I really don’t know why their enrollment is dropping. I know Kishwaukee College and Northern Illinois University are also lower in enrollment,” Pease said. “It may not be related, but I think fewer people see Illinois as an attractive place to be.”
Jason Anderson, Rochelle Economic Development Director, said he has been in discussions with several area directors on collaborative efforts at training, educating and retaining young people to pursue careers in the region.

He also is in contact with the RTHS leadership team and has spoken with students about the impact they have on economic development.
“There are plenty of dynamics that affect the decline in populations, but what I think is key is as young residents grow up, if they can find a good job that they are wired to do, we believe we could turn this trend around,” Anderson said. “When I talk to young students I tell them there are great opportunities to live, work and really prosper here in their hometown… their decision to fall in love, get married and have children can have a serious economic impact here. At the heart of our whole economic future is on people staying here and being able to grow, live and prosper here.”
City manager Jeff Fiegenschuh echoed Anderson.
“The city is looking at different options in an effort to spur new single family housings starts in Rochelle,” he said. “We are also considering some ideas on redevelopment of current single-family housing as well.”

Rochelle City Council member John Bearrows, owner of Bearrows Real Estate and Auction Company, said from a real estate standpoint he does not see a large number of people leaving the area. He added the city is working on projects that could potentially increase Rochelle’s attraction.
“I think with the direction our city is going now, to improve quality of life issues and better way of life, I’m hopeful that’s going to draw more younger people here versus somewhere else,” Bearrows said.
A new census is set to take place in 2020, and some leaders expect to see families having fewer children than in past decades.
“I love our community, it’s a great community and with our changing times it affects every facet…whether it’s retail stores, schools, or churches, everything is affected by the changing of the times. The schools may very well be just changing because of the statistics,” Bearrows added. “There are things that we really cannot control, we just have to adjust accordingly.”
Anderson said he believes addressing the declines in school enrollment and population start with connecting people to opportunities being created in the state.
“We need to address it, match people who are here… adults and young people… with career opportunities that meet their interests and attract industry because we have a good workforce,” he added. “Even if enrollments are declining we still have an opportunity to show we have a great workforce with the ethics and values that employers are looking for.”