The number of Floyd County students who travel to other counties for education has increased again.
The school district lost more than $1.5 million in funding because of the number of students transferring to other districts this school year, according to documents approved by the Floyd County Board of Education last month.
The report shows Floyd County received 75 students transferring in from other counties this school year, with the majority, 25 and 26, coming from Knott and Pike counties, and there were 454 students living in Floyd County who transferred to other counties — one more student transfer out and 13 fewer transfers in than last year.
Most of the Floyd County students transferring out attend Johnson County Schools (172) and Pike County Schools (125). The report shows that 54 students transferred to Paintsville Independent and 96 transferred to Pikeville Independent.
The financial loss the transfers brought the district this school year is about $56,000 more than last school year. In the 2018-2019 school year, the school district lost 453 students and gained 88, according to the report, leading to a financial loss of $1.46 million.
The financial loss is not quite as high as it was in the 2017-2018 school year, however, when the loss of 467 students and the transfers-in of 83 students left the district at a financial loss of nearly $1.53 million.
That year, the district saw its highest financial loss in terms of student transfers since the 2011-2012 school year.
Students who live in Floyd County but attend schools elsewhere do so for a number of reasons, and officials have reported that most often, the transfers occur when parents work in other counties and enroll students into schools in that county.
The school district approves non-resident contracts with Paintsville Independent, Pikeville Independent, and the Martin, Magoffin, Knott, Johnson and Pike school districts. These contracts note that the district superintendent has the authority to accept non-resident students on a case-by-case basis.
Since the 2011-2012 school year, the district reported that transfers of students has financially cost the district about $12.9 million. Student transfers to other counties have been above 400 since 2011-2012, with the exception of the 2015-2016 school year, when 359 students transferred out of the district, the report says.