The school year is well underway and the first accounting of the student population has been completed. Some school administrators may very well be jumping for joy, others scratch their heads in bewilderment, and some administrators just look for someone or something to blame.
For the schools that make up the Gogebic Ontonagon Intermediate School District, the counts are a mixed bag, either representing what has been or what will be.
 
In alphabetical order, less I am accused of partisanship:
Bessemer School District was a big winner in the open schools competition. In September 2009, Bessemer began the 2009-2010 School year with 448 full time students; this year the District added 17 new Speedboys and Speedgirls to their student count, bringing the total count to 465.

Ewen-Trout Creek School District lost ground this year. The September enrollment was 238, down from 257 students just a year ago. ETC keeps on going forward, like the “Train That Could”.

Hurley School District did very well this year, making up for the downturn just one year prior. The district had expected a loss of 25 students; instead the Hurley School District gained 29 new Midgets in September 2010. The 2010 enrollment was 667 up from 638 in September 2009.
Ironwood School District began this year with 844 full time students down from 972 students in September of 2009. You do the math. That’s 128 less students sitting in seats this September than in September 2009.
Ontonagon Schools also lost serious ground this September. The 2010 full time student count was 475, down the 36 students from September 2009 when the district began the year with 475.

The closing of Smurfit – Stone is the current reason when explaining the 8% drop, however, like Ironwood, Ontonagon has been watching their numbers erode for quite some time.

Watersmeet School District gained six students to begin the 2010/2011 school year. In 2009 the district had 167 students and the district starts this year off with 171 students. Those six students represent a 3.6% gain.
 
Wakefield-Marenisco also had a small gain in student population; just one, but a gain nevertheless. In 2009 the WM School District had 281 students when it began the year and this year that number was 282.