While these numbers are still fluctuating as new students continue to enroll, they give our community a valuable glimpse into our district's stability and growth.
As we begin the 2024-2025 school year, Superintendent Jason Manuel is excited to share our early enrollment numbers, offering a snapshot of the health and vibrancy of the Germantown Municipal School District (GMSD). While these numbers are still fluctuating as new students continue to enroll, they give our community a valuable glimpse into our district's stability and growth.
A Stable Enrollment: The Key to Our Success
Maintaining a stable enrollment of around 5,800 students is crucial for GMSD. Our budget, staffing, and the variety of programs we offer—like Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Enrollment courses—are all carefully planned around enrollment figures. "It's a delicate process," Superintendent Manuel explains, "to maintain our staff and programming based on revenue streams. Our transfer process helps with this balance." Historically, the district started with 1,450 transfer students and that number has decreased over time to 528 students today. At the same time, the number of resident students has increased from 4,218 to 5,499. The growth from last year to the current school year in resident students was 366 students while the transfer numbers decreased by 146.
Here’s a look at our enrollment trends:
- Dogwood Elementary School (DES): Resident students increased from 589 in 2023 to 631 in 2024, while non-resident students decreased slightly from 22 to 12.
- Farmington Elementary School (FES): Resident enrollment rose from 564 in 2023 to 613 in 2024, with non-residents dropping from 31 to 17.
- Forest Hill Elementary School (FHES): We saw a significant increase in resident students from 580 in 2023 to 652 in 2024, with non-resident numbers decreasing from 70 to 29.
- Riverdale Elementary School (RES): Resident enrollment grew from 1,044 in 2023 to 1,110 in 2024, with a decrease in non-residents from 94 to 61.
- Houston Middle School (HMS): Resident numbers surged from 804 in 2023 to 934 in 2024, while non-resident numbers showed a slight increase from 74 to 85.
- Houston High School (HHS): Resident enrollment remained strong, rising from 1,552 in 2023 to 1,559 in 2024, though non-residents decreased from 383 to 324.
Understanding How GMSD is Funded: The Big Picture
When it comes to funding the Germantown Municipal School District (GMSD), there's a significant difference in contributions from state, county, and local sources. The bulk of our funding comes from state and county taxes, which together make up the majority of our budget.
State Education Funds are the largest contributor, with a budgeted amount of $37,611,387 or 51% of our FY 2025 Budget. This is the primary source of funding that allows us to offer quality education, maintain our programs, and support our students' academic success.
Following closely are County Taxes, at 39% of the Budget, which contribute $28,830,591 to our budget for FY 2025. This substantial amount plays a critical role in ensuring we can sustain our operations, pay our teachers, and keep our facilities in top shape.
On the other hand, City Taxes—the contribution from the City of Germantown— amounting to just $3,082,064, or 4%, for FY 2025. While this local funding is essential, it accounts for only a small fraction of our total revenue, highlighting the heavy reliance on state and county funding to support our district.
The difference in these funding streams is why the tuition we charge for transfer students who do not reside in Germantown is relatively low. Tennessee state law caps the amount we can charge to the per-pupil to match the contribution from the local entity—in this case, the City of Germantown. This year, GMSD introduced a tuition fee, $521 for most of our transfer students, with some exceptions.