Enrollment at the county’s four public schools has dropped by 3.1 percent in the last year as the state economy continues to languish.

There was a net drop of 69 students from 2009 recorded in the Feb. 10 state school count, with the bulk of the decrease coming from Suttons Bay Public Schools.

“As far as I can determine, it’s not that students went to other schools in the area,” Superintendent Mike Murray said. “They went to other states.”

A total of 790 students were identified in the February census at Suttons Bay a year ago, but that number fell to 722 last week.

“We needed to have 785 to come out decently,” Murray said.

Twice annually — on the fourth Wednesdays in February and September — schools throughout the state count their students. The figures are crucial to “in formula” school districts such as Suttons Bay and Leland, which rely directly on a state per-pupil foundation allowance to operate. Tuesday’s count, plus the number from the September 2010 count, will be used to determine the number of students at “in formula” districts.

Last week’s state school count showed 2,155 students at the county’s four public school districts, a drop from 2,224 in 2009.

This school year, Suttons Bay’s budget was based on an enrollment of 812 students, though the actual number of students was far less. Adding to the district’s financial squeeze was a cut in per-pupil foundation allowance of $165 imposed by the state that dropped the contribution from $7,316 to $7,151. Students equate to revenue for “in formula” districts, and the drop in funding caused by the enrollment loss is expected to drain the $603,490 fund balance Suttons Bay had July 1, 2009 to about $15,000 by June 30, 2010.

Murray attributes the drop in enrollment to the poor economy.

Leelanau County’s jobless rate topped 10 percent for the first time in 17 years last year. The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth statistics for March 2009 showed the unemployment rate reached 10.3 percent, the first double-digit total since April 1992. The state unemployment rate in February 2009 was 12 percent and topped out at 15.3 percent in September, when students returned to the classroom. By the end of the calendar, unemployment had improved to 14.6 percent but it wasn’t enough to encourage many jobless people to stick around.

“We had kids leave at Christmas and never come back,” Murray said.

Two other public school districts in the county lost students from February 2009 to this month, but by smaller margins.

Glen Lake had 798 students, down five from 803 counted last February. The bulk of the enrollment is in grades K-6, where 389 students were counted last week. In grades 7-8, there were 141 students enrolled while the total was 268 in grades 9-12, an average of 67 per class.

At Leland, the K-12 total went from 486 last year to 479 last week.

Northport, which historically has the lowest enrollment of the county’s four public school districts, was the only school with more students this year than last.

“We’re up 9 percent from a year ago,” Superintendent Jeff Tropf said.

Northport’s enrollment in February 2009 was 145; last week it was 156.

In grades K-5 the district recorded 73 students, while there were 83 counted in grades 6-12.

For out-of-formula districts like Northport and Glen Lake, the student numbers are important but for different reasons. The schools are “out of formula” because revenue generated through local property taxes are greater than what they’d receive from the state. At Northport, retaining students is important to maintaining a strong academic program with ample educational options. At Glen Lake, which has a School of Choice rate of 40 percent, class sizes are monitored to ensure a low student-teacher ratio.