After years of flat or declining enrollment, student numbers have ticked up for the 2025-2026 school year in the Oakland Unified School District.

Census day is the first Wednesday in October, when OUSD and other California districts submit a snapshot of their enrollment to the state for official counts. While enrollment fluctuates throughout the year, census day counts are what the state uses for funding allocations. This year, that number is 34,135 — 673 students higher than the district’s initial projections. Last year, OUSD’s official enrollment count was 33,838, according to state records.

“One year of data does not make a trend line,” said Kilian Betlach, OUSD’s executive director of enrollment. But he said he and other OUSD officials are cautiously optimistic about the modest gains

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