By Megan Kelley

Review Writer

Lake Orion Community School’s Dragon Virtual enrollment numbers took a dive during the secondary education (middle and high school) re-enrollment period for the second semester.

As stated at the beginning of the school year, enrollment for Dragon Virtual was a full-year commitment for elementary families and a semester-by-semester commitment for secondary education families.

For secondary education students, Dragon Virtual enrollment for the second semester took place from Jan 4-8.

During a regular meeting on Oct. 28, the district announced that 508 elementary students had enrolled in Dragon Virtual (about 18 percent).

Dragon Virtual enrollment on the secondary level for the first semester showed 333 middle school students enrolled and 349 high school students.

While the total for elementary families remained the same due to registration procedures, the middle school and high school saw a decline in enrollment with 94 less middle school students enrolling back into Dragon Virtual and 87 less high school students enrolling, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Heidi Mercer said. This drop equates to 239 middle school students enrolled in Dragon Virtual this semester and 262 high school students.

“We are happy with those numbers and anticipated that that was about the range we see,” Mercer said. “We are ready to start second semester.”

Additionally, plans for Dragon Virtual come the fall of 2021 are underway, said Mercer.

“Surveys have gone out to our families and that includes our families, our students and teachers…we will be gathering information as we work to prepare for the fall program,” Mercer said.

The district is expected to provide more information on Dragon Virtual for the 2021-22 school year at a later date.

Also along the lines of enrollment, Mercer informed the board of attendance data that can be viewed on the district’s website at www.lakeorionschools.org/transparency under the Academic COIVD-19 State Reporting. Here you can also find extended COVID learning and training plans since Oct. 2020.

Attendance data for the months of Sept. through Dec. showed steady attendance at the high school level with an average attendance between 98 and 99 percent.

At the elementary level, the district saw a bit of back and forth in the DK (Developmental Kindergarten) through fifth-grade levels with some weeks having attendance percentage for four days of live instruction in the high 80’s or mid-90’s and others showing low percentages in the 60s and 50s, district documents showed.

Middle school attendance has maintained a steady percentage as well for students who attended two days of live instruction, staying mostly around 80 and 90 percent and on rare occasions dipping to around 70 and 60 percent.

In-person students returned to classrooms last week.