The Wake County Public School System remains one of North Carolina's largest employers even though layoffs are taking a toll on the number of bodies.

In the state's recently released Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, Wake was ranked the state's ninth-largest employer with between 15,000 and 19,999 employees.

Before the recent layoffs, Wake was listed in the state's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report as the eighth-largest employer with between 20,000 and 24,999 employees.

It actually turns out that the Wake County Public School System is now the 16th-largest school district in the nation..

I didn't factor in that Wake's 146,687 students had also moved it ahead of the falling enrollment this year in the School District of Philadelphia. I had previously blogged about how Wake had moved ahead of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, which has 146,497 students this year.

In the case of Philadelphia, Wake's national ranking changed because the Pennsylvania school district is losing students at a fast rate. This year, Philadelphia has 146,090 students. The district had 154,482 students in the 2010-11 school year.

The Wake County school system is now the 17th-largest school system in the country, moving ahead of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland.
 
Figures released this month by Montgomery County show that the Washington D.C. area school system has 146.497 students for this school year, a gain of around 2,500 kids. But Wake overtook Montgomery County this fall by adding 3,398 kids for an enrollment now of 146,687 students.

In addition to moving up one slot in the national rankings, Wake also retained its position as the largest school district in North Carolina. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg system is second with 138,100 students.

Although the poor economy means Wake is no longer growing by 7,000 students  a year, the school district is still adding more than 3,000 net new students annually. School leaders say a new school construction bond referendum will be needed within the next few years.

The Wake County school system officially has 146,687 students this year, up 3,388 from the same time last year.

The figure, announced today by school officials, is based on the number of students on the 20th day of classes, which was Sept. 22 for most schools. The figure was very close to the projected total of 146.657 students.

Wake remains the largest school district in North Carolina. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system is second with 138,100 students.

Wake likely has moved up one spot, ahead of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, to become the 17th largest school district in the nation. Montgomery County school officials won't have an official number until November, but they've recorded as many as 146,609 students this year

Budget, enrollment projections, school capacities and pre-kindergarten classes will be on the agenda of today's joint meeting of the Wake County school board and county commissioners.

The meeting will open with County Manager David Cooke giving his glum budget update to both boards. You could see discussion about the school board continuing to get $313.5 million from commissioners and the resulting  cut in per-pupil spending.

The discussion of enrollment projections, based on an earlier presentation to the school board this month, will show that the school system is still expected to grow. But they're scaling back the projections somewhat to reflect the slowdown in the economy.

UPDATE

Click here for the online story of the meeting by Thomas Goldsmith.

I'm a bit backed up on updating the blog, but I figure for now you guys would be interested in this year's school crowding figures.

During Tuesday's board work session, Wake County school administrators presented the 2010-11 facility utilization report. The report shows the crowding levels at each school and how school capacity levels are determined.

Overall, Chief Facilities and Operations Officer Don Haydon said they've got enough seats now but that won't be the case based on projected growth. He previously told the school board that at least 33 new schools would be needed by 2020.

Wake County's official 20th-day enrollment numbers are now in and they show that the school district gained 3,690 students this school year.

Wake now has 143,289 students compared to 139,599 kids last year. Wake remains the largest school system in the state. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, which grew by nearly 2,000 students this school year, is in second with 135,638 students.

Wake also remains the 18th-largest school district in the nation. Wake will likely move next school year ahead of the Montgomery County school system in Maryland, which has 144,000 students.

The Wake County school board is facing a big price tag for new schools and calls to push up implementation of the new student assignment plan.

Administrators said today that Wake needs at least 33 new schools by 2020 to confront a projected 39,500 seat deficit. While no numbers were given today, that's at least $1 billion worth of school construction costs.

One thing to consider is that 33 school figure in based on new elementary and middle schools being on a year-round calendar. Costs would go up if built on a traditional calendar.

CORRECTED TO INDICATE THEY PROJECTED 33 NEW SCHOOLS AND ALL THE NEW ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS WOULD BE ON A YEAR-ROUND CALENDAR

The Wake County school system has grown by more than 3,600 students so far this school year.

School officials reported they had 143,235 students on Wednesday, up 3,636 students from last year's official enrollment. Wake could move up a spot this year to overtake the Montgomery County school system in Maryland to become the 17th-largest school district in the nation.

Do you think there's any significance in the timing of the release of the new student enrollment projections?

As noted in today's article, the projections weren't released in the normal way. Traditionally, they've been released at a joint meeting of the school board and county commissioners.

Instead, they were released at the school board's facilities committee meeting.