Statewide K-12 enrollment in Utah fell 2.4% to 640,471 students for the 2026-27 school year, according to data the Utah State Board of Education released Oct. 22.
This decline, which represents the largest single-year percentage drop since at least 2014, carries direct budget consequences for the Canyons and Granite school districts because state funding is based on student headcount.
Canyons School District, which serves Brighton High School and most Cottonwood Heights elementary schools, projected 567 fewer students for the 2026-27 school year. Based on a Weighted Pupil Unit formula of $4,870 per pupil, this translates to a loss of approximately $2.7 million in state funding, according to a March 10 board meeting presentation by business administrator Leon Wilcox.
Districtwide, Canyons projects total enrollment will fall from 31,933 in 2025-26 to 31,325 this school year, with further declines projected to reach 29,583 by 2029-30. At the school level, Brighton High is projected to have 2,368 students for 2026-27, down from 2,420 the prior year.
Granite School District, which includes Olympus and Skyline high schools serving Holladay, enrolled 54,467 students in 2025-26 according to state board data. The district's planning documents show a two-decade decline from a peak of approximately 68,614 students in 2010 to 55,546 in 2024, with projections reaching roughly 51,540 by 2026.
The shifting demographics are already impacting school structures. In December 2025, the Canyons board unanimously approved merging Bella Vista Elementary and Ridgecrest Elementary in Cottonwood Heights to create a combined school of about 600 students at the Ridgecrest campus.
In June, further consolidations stalled after board member Katie Dahle motioned to pause votes on merging Granite Elementary with Quail Hollow Elementary and Park Lane Elementary with Willow Canyon Elementary. Dahle stated that nine additional schools face declining enrollment and are only a year or two behind the schools initially targeted. The board has since launched a comprehensive districtwide study of elementary feeder systems.
The board has until December to finalize any consolidation decisions for the 2027-28 school year.
Statewide, traditional district enrollment dropped 17,796 students, or 3.1%, while charter schools grew 2.3% to 87,161 students. Charter schools now account for 13.6% of Utah's public K-12 population, a share that has risen for five consecutive years. Aaron Brough, USBE's director of data and statistics, said the data provides critical insights into changing student demographics and localized trends to enable informed funding decisions.
The USBE's full enrollment breakdowns by district and school are available on the agency's data and statistics website.
