Inyo County Schools: Bishop Elementary School welcomed most students in 2023-24 school year

Bishop Elementary School had the highest enrollment among Inyo County schools, welcoming 866 students during the 2023-24 school year, according to the California Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2023-24 school year, 50.9% were girls, and 49.1% were boys.

The most represented ethnicity among Bishop Elementary School students was white, accounting for 30.8% of the student population.

Among the 19 schools in Inyo County, Bishop Union High School ranked second in enrollment numbers with 613 students, while Home Street Middle School welcomed 398 students and ranked third in the 2023-24 school year.

Bishop Elementary School is part of Bishop Unified School District, which roughly covers schools within Inyo County and has a main office in Bishop.

In the previous school year, Bishop Elementary School also had the largest number of students among Inyo County schools.

Although chronic absenteeism in California decreased in 2023, it remains double the pre-pandemic rate. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, chronic absenteeism in the state public schools reached 25% in 2023, up from 12% in 2019.

After peaking at 6.3 million in the early 2000s, public school enrollment in California has marked its seventh consecutive decline in the 2023-24 school year, with projections indicating it could fall to approximately 5.2 million by the 2033-34 school year. This trend is attributed to lower birth rates, slowed immigration, and families relocating out of state due to high housing costs. Rural and coastal districts have been particularly affected, facing tough decisions such as school closures and staffing reductions.