Superintendent Richard Erickson said that nearly 80 more students were in classrooms on Monday than were in school on Sept. 20, 2005 — the official enrollment reporting date.

A total of 1,783 were in classes on Monday, he said. That compares with 1,704 last September.

“This has been a very positive trend in the last five years,” Erickson said. “We just hope it continues on in the future. It’s much easier to plan and work with a growing student enrollment, rather than a declining student enrollment.”

Both the superintendent and the elementary school principal, Jerry Daskoski, say they wonder whether this year’s large kindergarten class foretells a trend.

“The kindergarten class certainly will be a key in planning for the future,” Erickson said.

At 139 students, the class likely is the largest in Tonganoxie history.

“It was the biggest surprise of all, simply because the largest kindergarten class we had was last year, at 120,” Daskoski said. “Prior to that, we would have between 100 and 110, on occasion. … It will be interesting to see if there’s a pattern.”

During Daskoski’s 16 years in Tonganoxie, he’s noted that classes tend to add students as the students move through elementary and junior high schools.

Erickson believes the district’s enrollment will fluctuate during the next few weeks, and probably will decline a bit.

“We’ll probably have a 65- to 75-student increase,” he said.