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Prospect enrolls 34 new students School district turns decline around By VICKI GUARINO PROSPECT -- Jackson County's smallest school district is getting bigger, easing community concerns that classes would become too small to operate. By drawing students from outside the community, Prospect has enrolled 189 students this fall, up 34 students from last year. So this year, instead of wondering how long the tiny district could hold on to its independence, school officials are thinking about opening a new teaching position. "This is good news for us," said Prospect schools superintendent Don Alexander. Elsewhere, 34 new students would disappear into the crowd. In Prospect -- the smallest kindergarten-through-grade 12 district in the county -- they're crucial to the school's financial stability. School funding is dependent on enrollment, and each student brings about $4,500 a year in state money. A year ago, with only 155 students registered, school officials said the district was nearing the point where merger with neighboring districts or some drastic program change could soon be necessary. Enrollment had been dropping steadily, and the only foreseeable forecast indicated further declines. Lower elementary grades were some of the smallest classes ever. Officials figured the district would founder if enrollment dropped below 150. School board committees met through last spring to investigate the options. Finally, committees could agree only that the community wanted to maintain its small, local school system as long as possible. The hope was that the school's small size, and perhaps some specialty programs such as forestry, would draw students from outside the northeastern Jackson County district. And that seems to be what has happened, Alexander said. One group of students is traveling in from Diamond Lake, about 40 miles away. Despite the distance, Prospect is closer than a school in Glide, part of the Roseburg school district, which the students had been attending. The bus ride to Glide was 65 miles one way, and parents complained that their kids were away from home from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Alexander said. Prospect schools also proved to be the closer alternative for the rest of the new students, who are coming in from Shady Cove and Trail. Many of this group had been enrolled in the Elk Trail School, part of the Eagle Point district. Elk Trail discontinued its middle school this year, prompting a shift to Prospect. Alexander said some students and families prefer the small classes in Prospect. Prospect High School has 78 students and the middle school has 49. Meanwhile, enrollment from the Prospect community itself hasn't changed. The community has been dependent on the timber industry, but declines in logging have forced young families to move away to find work elsewhere over the past several years. These days, Alexander said, new families in Prospect often are retirees. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA