Student enrollment numbers are drawing concern from leaders in both the Clinton City and Sampson County school systems, with each district reporting fewer young people than anticipated during the opening weeks of the 2026-27 school year.
“This is the first time we’ve seen a number like this,” Clinton City Schools Superintendent Dr. Wesley Johnson told his Board of Education last Thursday after reporting the district was down 100 students from the 10th day of the previous school year.
Sampson County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jamie King similarly told his board Monday that the county system was about 300 students below what the state had expected, although district officials are continuing to determine where students who have not reported to school are enrolled.
“The next two weeks are going to be finding the stories of where the kids are,” King explained.
Both school systems use enrollment counts during the opening weeks to identify trends and determine which students expected to attend have not reported. Enrollment also plays a role in state and county funding as well as staffing allocations.
Johnson and King have already discussed enrollment and the broader economic picture in Sampson County. Johnson told the Clinton City board that the two superintendents recently met to discuss enrollment numbers, economic development and how changes within the county could affect both school systems.
Clinton City Schools
Johnson told the board that Clinton City Schools’ 10th-day enrollment was 100 students below the same point in the 2025-26 school year and 45 students below enrollment at the end of last school year. In all, there are 2,970 students currently enrolled in the city system..
The numbers help determine the amount of staff allotted to schools as well as funding for the following year, Johnson explained. He said those figures should be officially determined by the end of September.
“There used to be little transiency in Clinton City Schools, but not now,” Johnson said. “We have as many going out as coming in.”
During his discussion with the city board, the superintendent shared what he described as a “shocking” statistic — that 71 percent of the working population living in Sampson County works outside the county.
Johnson also discussed where students leaving the district have gone. He said 63.5 percent transferred to other public schools in North Carolina, while smaller percentages went to private schools, Sampson Early College High School and elsewhere. The destination of some students remained unknown.
The superintendent said this is the first time in 10 years that Clinton City Schools has not experienced an enrollment increase during the first 10 days of the school year.
Another enrollment count will be taken on Day 20, which is Friday, to provide a more complete picture.
Johnson said he believes the district could “get close to the end of last year” in enrollment but does not expect it to reach the number recorded at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.
Board Chairwoman Dr. Linda Brunson asked about the number of 2026 graduating seniors compared with the number of new kindergarten students entering the district.
Johnson said he and L.C. Kerr Elementary School Principal Greg Dirks had been encouraged by kindergarten registration numbers before school began. By the 10th-day report, however, the district had approximately 18 to 20 fewer kindergarten students than what Johnson described as “normal.”
Johnson also told the board that only eight public school districts in North Carolina gained students last year and that Clinton City Schools was one of two in eastern North Carolina. He noted that enrollment numbers can change “pretty drastically.”
The superintendent reflected on how enrollment patterns within the city system have changed over time. In the past, he said, students frequently remained in Clinton City Schools from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“It’s not the case anymore,” Johnson said. “It is concerning, and what are we doing about it?”
Johnson and board members also discussed what they see as a connection between the local economy and school enrollment.
Board Vice Chairman Jeremy Edgerton raised the potential impact of Smithfield Foods on the community, asking, “Where will we be if Smithfield closes?”
Edgerton stressed that generations of students have been raised with the “Dark Horse Standard” and said, “We have to keep the county and community viable” to retain students.
Board member Clark Hales returned to the statistic Johnson shared about residents working outside Sampson County and expressed concern that continued economic trends could contribute to enrollment losses.
“We’ve got to recruit industry first,” Hales stressed.
Johnson also discussed changes in the demographics of Clinton City Schools, reporting increases among Latino and Haitian Creole students while other demographic groups have decreased.
“This is the first time we’ve seen a number like this,” Johnson said.
Sampson County Schools
King, in giving an update on the 7,359-student Sampson County Schools enrollment, noted numbers were down in that system as well.
He explained that each year, Sampson County Schools typically identifies between 300 and 500 students who are expected but have not reported by Day 10.
This year, King said, overall enrollment is approximately 300 students below what the state expected for the district, with much of the difference showing in kindergarten and 10th grade.
“We’re down about 300 students to what the state expected us to have,” King said. “Most of those are coming into 10th grade and in kindergarten. Tenth grade is traditionally the grade span where most high school students, if they’re going to drop out, do.”
“Kindergarten is always kind of a shot in the dark,” he added.
King said there is work to be done to locate students when possible.
The county superintendent explained that the district located about 300 students between Day 1 and Day 10 this year in other systems.
“This year, I think we definitely saw (numbers) on that lower end,” King said. “We saw about 300 kids that we found from Day 1 to Day 10, but every year is a little different. … Typically, the first 10 days of school we do a different type count for attendance, really to allow us to try to understand who are missing students and where are missing students.”
Between Days 10 and 20, King said school officials will continue determining where students who have not reported are located.
“Sometimes by Day 20, we may have found some additional students,” King explained. “Sometimes by Day 20, you’ve started to move those students that you find off of your roll because they’re enrolled in Cumberland County or Johnston County.”
The district also works to determine whether students have transferred to another district, enrolled in home school or private school, or moved out of the state or country.
“That’s all of all the kids who haven’t shown up — where are they?” King said. “Did they go to a different school district and transfer? Did they home school or are they going to a private school? Did they move out of the state or out of the country?”
King emphasized that the process allows the district to account for students and determine whether school-aged children are enrolled somewhere.
It is a way, he said, “to ensure that even over the summer, students don’t fall through the cracks or get lost, but that every student who’s supposed to be in school and school-aged is actually enrolled in schools.”
For Sampson County Schools, King said the work over the next two weeks will focus on determining what happened to students who have not returned and gaining a clearer picture of the district’s enrollment.