In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Oklahoma’s annual student count has shown its first decrease in overall public school enrollment in 19 years.

A recent report from the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) data shows 694,113 students enrolled in Pre-K through 12th grade for 2020-21, a decline of 9,537, or about one percent, from last year’s total.

According to the report, enrollment at Seminole Public Schools declined by 7.2 percent over the year. Enrollment for the current term is 1,399 as compared to 1,508 for the previous term.

Statewide, Pre-K and kindergarten numbers accounted for 75 percent of the decreased enrollment, with 4,734 fewer Pre-K students and 2,381 fewer kindergarteners enrolled in 2020-21 than in 2019-20. Officials say this suggests that parents are choosing to delay the entry of their four and five-year-olds into school.

“This pandemic has presented a multitude of challenges, and lower early childhood enrollment numbers tell us we will need to heighten our focus on early learning opportunities and strategic interventions to ensure these children have the prerequisite skills needed for reading and math,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister said in a press release.

“Copious evidence points to the effectiveness of early childhood education in preparing children for lives of learning and academic success, and we are deeply committed to serving our youngest learners,” Hofmeister said.

One of the main goals of Oklahoma Edge, the OSDE’s eight-year strategic plan, is to align early childhood education and learning foundations to ensure at least 75% of students are “ready to read” upon kindergarten entry.

Historically, Oklahoma has enjoyed high participation in Pre-K. Seventy-six percent of eligible children in the state attended a public Pre-K program last year, compared to national Pre-K attendance rate of 34%.

Demographic information showed little change in the racial and ethnic makeup of Oklahoma students. Just over half of the state’s students were Hispanic, American Indian, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, or members of two or more races, while 47.15% of students were white.

Virtual schools saw a big jump in enrollment because of the pandemic. Among districts, Epic Charter Schools saw the biggest gain in overall enrollment. Epic One-on-One Charter School increased enrollment from 17,106 to 35,731, or 110.8%, and Epic Blended Learning Centers increased enrollment from 10,962 to 23,714, or 116.3%.

Other virtual charters saw substantial increases as well, including Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy (50.3% increase), Connections Academy (60% increase), eSchool Virtual Charter (212.3% increase) and Insight School (33.1% increase).