An Attempt to Quell the Storm Over Drop in Enrollment

The turnout at Lin Howe School was much smaller than I had anticipated. Maybe folks get all their info from online sources.

I am enclosing a rough graph I made some weeks ago that shows, rather vividly I believe, the “trend” of School District school enrollment. You may publish the chart if you wish.

Publishing the data may quiet the storm around whether the school population is rising or falling. The data came from the United States Census Bureau (population of Culver City) and the California State Dept. of Education for the enrollment numbers within Culver City schools.

Your quote — “On declining enrollment, the majority said the District needs to do a better job of selling Culver City schools to Culver City families. Mr. Maxwell demurred, insisting that ‘enrollment has been flat for 37years’ — actually was my statement on Culver City population, not school enrollment.

The graph clearly shows School District enrollment. The not-so easily-detected Culver City population trend — because it is nearly flat across 4 decades — is on the right hand side at the bottom with an arrow on the left and an arrow on the right. I flatlined the population at 40,000. I would be a bit factious if I stated the population figure hovers between 39,876 and 39,874 but I would never, never say that. The precise numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau are:

1920 503

1930 5,660

1940 8,976

1950 19,720

1960 32,163

1970 34,541

1980 38,139

1990 38,793

2000 38,816

A very kind lady from the U.S. Census Bureau called me, after I had left an phone message and an email, and guided me through the labyrinth USCB web pages for each and every decade.

I would appreciate if you set the record straight as soon as you are able.

Thank you.

I hope to see you tonight at 7 at the next Candidates Forum at the Culver City Homeowners Assn. meeting at the Vets Auditorium.

­roger__maxwell@hotmail.com // two underscores between names.