The Gasconade County R-2 School District saw its most dramatic drop in enrollment in the 2022-23 school year that will result in less than 100 students in the Owensville High School graduating class — largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a graph in the board report Monday night, Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy showed the 2022-23 graduating class with 99 students enrolled. However, in 2019-20 school year, during the start of the pandemic, the same class had 133 students enrolled — which reflects the group once had an average class size, but is now minus 34 classmates.

“That’s how we can tell it is a direct result of the pandemic,” Hardy said Tuesday afternoon. “If you look at this year’s seniors, we lost 35. They have either dropped out or are being home schooled. They are not virtually learning within the district. We can only look back at the numbers and see it is probably due to the pandemic. It is the smallest class in kindergarten through twelfth grade and it did not start that way.”

Hardy said Oct. 17 that the 2022-23 class was affected the hardest by the pandemic.

“They are the class that looks like it has the biggest impact in numbers,” she said. “We knew we would have some repercussions from the pandemic.”

The graduating class were freshmen in 2020.

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

Hardy added that not all of the students are missing.

“I don’t know that all 35 are simply gone,” she said. “But they are not graduating on time.”

She explained that some of the students who stayed enrolled are behind on their credits and due to a clerical error they were regulated to junior, sophomore, and in some cases even freshmen level.

“A lot of students were not successful with virtual learning,” Hardy 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.”

During the 2020-21 school year, students and parents could still chose virtual learning. 

“If a student chooses virtual learning through MOCAP, people have to write to Missouri to choose a program they want to use,” Hardy said. “If a student chooses to go that direction, parents need to do their research on providers out there. The majority of students who went with virtual learning were not successful.”

The majority of unsuccessful virtual learners had similar stories.

“A lot of that was assignments not being completed,” Hardy said. “You have to be self-driven to complete those courses because there is not a person that says ‘you have to turn in something.’ Due dates are there, but no teacher is contacting you to say you haven’t gotten it in or have not done the work.”

She emphasized that many of the students in the 2022-23 graduating class were only 14 or 15 years old when the pandemic started. From 2019-20 to 2020-21 enrollment dropped from 133 to 119 students in the 2023 graduating class. It dropped to 107 in 2021-22 and finally to 99 in 2022-23.

Hardy emphasized that while this class was affected the worst, those who stayed enrolled and are behind on their credits can still catch up via summer classes and credit recovery.

The clerical error that drops upperclassmen into lower classes by credits gives a better picture of how many students are behind. For example, the 2023-24 graduating class has 138 students, down from 163 at the start of the pandemic in 2019-20. Student enrollment for the class increased to 175 in 2020-21, then dropped dramatically in 2021-22 to 148 students before settling at 138 this school year.

“The (2023-24) class — you can probably attribute some of the juniors to the pandemic, but not all because when they came back their freshmen year they were in high school,” Hardy said.
She explained that time missed equates to missing credits in high school, unlike the lower grade levels. So the junior class would have started with a clean slate their freshmen year.

However, the sophomore and freshman classes also report unusual increases and decreases in enrollment that are both attributed to the clerical error that shows upperclassmen in lower grade levels because they lack credit hours to graduate. The class of 2024-25 (sophomores) had 137 students enrolled in 2019-20; 129 students in 2020-21; 171 students in 2021-22; and 132 in 2022-23.

The 2025-26 graduating class had 145 students in 2019-20; 145 in 2020-21; 144 in 2021-22; and 180 students in 2022-23. The more recent increase in freshmen class numbers is likely due to upperclassmen being attributed to the lower grade level.
“Reporting this year was different than last year,” Hardy said. “Some of the students may not have enough credits to be considered a junior, but they can make those credits up by attending summer school. Some may be missing credits because of the pandemic issues and may have been attempting online courses. Others may be missing credits because of failed courses.”

The district incorrectly reported the numbers which resulted in students being assigned to grade level by credits and not by years of enrollment. The error is being corrected.

“In the sophomore class, some kids may not have enough credits to be considered sophomores,” Hardy said. “The school district is recoding that information with (the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) DESE to reflect that students are with their correct grade cohorts. Some of the juniors could be reflected as sophomores and freshmen.”

Hardy added that the average daily attendance for the district should also increase as students are not being forced to quarantine due to COVID. “We are now heading into the post-pandemic phase,” Hardy said. “Students are more successful when they are present at school and learning.”