News File Photo Ella White Elementary School third-grade teacher Kelly Skiba reads a book to her students in this October 2021 News archive photo.

ALPENA — Alpena Public Schools and a couple of other Northeast Michigan school districts recorded increases in student enrollment this year over last, despite threats from some parents to pull their kids from school over coronavirus protocols such as facemask mandates.

Combined, Alpena, Atlanta, Alcona, Posen, Onaway, and Rogers City school districts counted 5,902 students on Wednesday, the fall count day when schools record enrollment figures that account for most of their state funding.

That’s down by 167 students, or abut 3%, from fall 2020 enrollment.

However, Alpena Public Schools saw an 8% increase in its student body, with a total of 3,780 students enrolled and accounted for Wednesday, up about 266 kids from the audited numbers from the 2020-21 school year.

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Alcona and Atlanta schools also recorded enrollment hikes. Messages left for Hillman Community Schools Superintendent Carl Seiter were not returned.

APS recently instituted a facemask mandate for students and staff following a spate of infections and quarantines that prompted the district to send kids home to learn online for a week. In response, some parents threatened to pull their kids from school and some have taken steps to form a homeschool cooperative.

That, apparently, did not hurt APS’s bottom line. If the preliminary numbers from Wednesday’s count are confirmed, this fall would be the first time in years Alpena’s recorded an increase in enrollment.

A school district receives about $8,000 annually for each student who is enrolled. The numbers are preliminary because the districts have a grace period to count kids who may have been absent and unaccounted for Wednesday.

APS Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said prior to the pandemic, the schools experienced a 1% to 2% decline in annual enrollment. He said having more kids in the system is a step in the right direction, and the added funding will help the school to further improve its educational offerings.

“This increase in enrollment, paired with the increased per-student foundation allowance from the state and the additional federal funding tied to pandemic learning, we have a tremendous opportunity to bring a new and high level of resources to the students of Alpena Public Schools,” he said in a press release. “We are excited that soon we will be announcing many tremendous enhancements across the district that will directly benefit the students and families of Alpena Public Schools.”

Alcona Community Schools and Atlanta Community Schools both counted more kids than last school year too, administrators say.

Alcona’s student population climbed by 50 students, a total which could be tweaked when the final tally is released.

Districtwide, there were 710 students counted Wednesday.

Alcona Superintendent Dan O’Connor said he had a feeling numbers could increase because of the amount of homes that were sold in the county and more younger students being enrolled to take advantage of the online learning option offered for elementary students.

O’Connor said predicting how the county will go from one year to another can be tricky because of the ebbs and flows of trends. He said the boost this year will help the schools, and their finances moving forward.

“The last three years we were going in the wrong direction and this is a nice bump for us,” he said. “We really needed this for the district long-term and will do our best to preserve the student body we have.”

Atlanta gained six students, increasing its count to 239 students.

Rogers City Area Schools, Onaway Area Community Schools, and Posen Consolidated Schools saw their student count fall slightly, according to school administrators.

Onaway figures to lose about eight students, Rogers City figures to lose 35 students, and Posen only one student.

Rogers City Area Schools Superintendent Nick Hein said a drop in enrollment is not surprising due to the decline in population and job climate in Rogers City. He added the count day turned out well because there were few students being directly impacted by COVID-19 and most of the student population was onhand to be counted.

Hein said things are beginning to point up and hopes progress can be made soon.

“We don’t have as many kids in quarantine and they were able to be in class and we are happy to have them,” he said. “We should be able to stabilize next year.”