By Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa | Casa Grande Dispatch
New jobs from companies such as Lucid Motors and Nikola Motor Company and new housing may bring more students into the Casa Grande area in the next 10 years, but it may not bring a great increase in the number of students enrolled in Casa Grande Union High School District schools.
There are numerous reasons why the district may not see a great deal of enrollment growth over the next 10 years, Rick Brammer, from Applied Economics, a consultant hired by the district, told the school board Tuesday.
The most common reasons are two dips in the childbirth rate for the state and the county over the last 10 years due to the recession, an increase in the number of charter schools in the district’s area, and the number of residents between the ages of 34 and 54 living in the Casa Grande area dropped during the recession. Residents of that age are the most likely demographic to have families with children who are of high school age, he said.