By Kathryn Reed

ZEPHYR COVE — Enrollment in Douglas County School District continues to decline, though Zephyr Cove Elementary School is dramatically defying that trend.

With 25 more students than last year, Zephyr Cove’s numbers are up 13 percent. This is not a trend experienced at other elementary schools in the district. Principal Nancy Cauley is not sure what to attribute the increase to.

The school has 217 students in grades K-6. Even though the school is small, the class sizes are not. Class sizes range from 21 students in third-grade to 42 in fourth.

The two high schools keep losing students. At the lake, Whittell High has 34 fewer students than a year ago, for a total enrollment of 229 students for the 7-12 school. This is a 12.9 percent drop.

Douglas High in the valley lost 90 students, or 6.1 percent of its student population. There are 1,380 students at Douglas.

District-wide, enrollment is down 1.5 percent or 95 students. Enrollment for 2009-10 is 6,212. With only two schools at Lake Tahoe, the majority of the students are in the Carson Valley.

Nevada has said declining enrollment will not affect districts’ 2009-10 budget, but that’s not the case for the next fiscal year. DCSD projects a loss of about $575,000 for 2010-11 based on enrollment projections.