Gasconade County R-2 School District on May 19 will graduate one of its smallest-sized classes since the 1990s according to Owensville High School Principal Kris Altemeyer.

“It’s the first class I can remember that is under 100 students,” Altemeyer said. “I am sure we have had some (other small classes), but it is the first one I can remember since the 90s.”

Commencement is scheduled at 7 p.m. Friday in the school’s main gym.

In October 2022 Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy said the 2023 class would graduate 99 seniors in May 2023. That number has dwindled to 97, partially because a couple of students have left and at least one went to homeschooling.

“A couple have moved out of the district and one transferred to home school,” Altemeyer said. “We have a few early graduates but they all count toward the 97 seniors.”

Altemeyer said the group has traditionally been smaller.

“It’s been a small class all the way through,” he said. “I don’t know any particular reasons, but they have been a great class and very tight-knit. It is 50 fewer students than the group we had last year, and then the numbers go back up. It is a unique situation.”

While this group has traditionally been smaller than the classes before or behind them, Hardy said COVID played a big part in making their number less than 100 graduates.

“If you look at this year’s seniors, they were freshmen during the pandemic year,” Hardy said. “We lost 35 seniors. They have been home schooled or went elsewhere because they are not learning virtually in the school district. We can only look back at the numbers and see it is probably due to the pandemic.”

Hardy said the class was a smaller size, but it wasn’t extreme like it is now.

“If you look back to 2019, they went from an average class size to 99 at the end of the pandemic,” she said. “This class was affected the hardest by the pandemic. They are the class that looks like it’s had the biggest impact on numbers.”

Hardy said education officials knew the pandemic would have an effect on students. The question was always how severe the damage would be.

“The pandemic had different effects on people,” she said. “Students began to social distance more and joined the workforce, which could be a contributing factor for some of the missing students.”

The following school year, many students chose to do MOPAP for personal learning.

“A lot of students were not successful with virtual learning,” she said. “If they decided they wanted to return to school, they had to pass those courses, but they were behind and I think that had a negative effect also.”

Hardy said the majority of students who did virtual learning were not successful.

“A lot of that was assignments not being completed, you have to be self-driven to complete those courses,” Hardy said. “These kids were 14- or 15-years-old when they started the program,” Hardy said. “Then the following year they chose that route, assignments weren’t submitted and they were behind.”

Hardy explained that in high school students can lose credits, which reflects on how they are classed and when they can graduate. Some seniors are behind on credits and may be classed as juniors, and some juniors are classed as sophomores.

“I don’t know that all 35 students are simply gone,” she said. “But they are not graduating on time. We did lose several in that class that did not come back after the pandemic. That’s how I can tell it was a direct result of the pandemic. Students are more successful when they are present at school and learning.”