Remember when rural Rowan County rebelled against a controversial school consolidation proposal? The underlying issue that led to the idea hasn’t disappeared.

If the current trend continues, in fact, the school system could see a loss of funding later in the year, Rowan-Salisbury School System staff warned on Monday. It could be up to a $2 million loss in funding, according to Chief Finance Officer Robin Leslie.

Rowan-Salisbury Schools staff projected the system would have hundreds more enrolled students than the current 19,355. The loss of funding would come if the schools fall 100 students below the threshold. So, unless a swath of students decide to enroll, it’s likely Rowan-Salisbury Schools will lose a significant chunk of change.

In fact, the school system has already started a hiring freeze for teacher assistants to prepare for a cut in funding.

The school board, however, has committed not to decrease the number of teacher assistants. So, there may be fewer teacher assistants in the classroom, but those positions won’t be eliminated completely.

If you’re keeping track, this is only the latest time that student enrollment has been raised during a school board decision. Earlier this year, the Rowan-Salisbury School System decided to drop a consolidation proposal despite declining enrollment numbers. Now, they’ve committed to maintain the current level of teacher’s assistants.

Regardless of how elected officials decide to address the issue, the trend is undeniable. Perhaps it’s small, but it’s certainly present.

Numbers presented during Monday’s meeting project the Rowan-Salisbury School System will have 19,070 students by the 2020-2021 school year. Compare that to the 2010-2011 school year, when 20,323 students were enrolled. Those projections equate to a loss of 1,200 students in 10 years.

High school appears to be the sources of the largest losses in student enrollment. In the 2010-2011 school year, there were 9,512. By the 2020 and 2021 year, there will be 8,341 high school students in the Rowan-Salisbury System. Meanwhile, elementary and middle school enrollment numbers appear to be only slightly decreased over the same period.

Student enrollment declines and consequences that may result deserve significant attention from the broader community. If trends continue, declines could necessitate closures.

Rowan needs to consider why there are fewer students enrolled in the county’s public schools and how a decline might affect the quality of education locally.

By proactively discussing the issue, elected leaders, school system staff and parents can prepare for any negative effects of student enrollment decline.