Maricopa is bucking the subway trend that has some school districts scrambling.

However, 250,000 people moved I went to Metro Phoenix last year. growth rate is stagnantand the local birth rate has fallen 36% since 2007. second largest decrease in the usa

As a result, the overall enrollment rate in the metro decreased significantly. some 20,000 students left Arizona’s public schools have seen declines over the past two years, an Idaho newspaper reported Tuesday.

“I think it’s on the decline. But you know, I’m used to schools being closed.” tom hornArizona Superintendent of Education; told Fox 10 Phoenix. last month.

In fact, 34,000 children and teens have died in Phoenix since 2018, according to a Dec. 12 analysis of U.S. Census Bureau numbers. Thousands more lost their lives in Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe and Paradise Valley.

According to the data, even Casa Grande lost 1,400 players under the age of 20.

But according to the same dataset, Maricopa not only made gains in this demographic, its gains were the third highest in raw numbers and second in growth rate among all cities in Maricopa and Pinal Counties. It was expensive.

Maricopa has seen a net increase of 4,600 children and teens since 2018. Only Buckeye (8,700) and Gilbert (8,100) had more people moving in under the age of 20, and only Buckeye (7.3%) had higher proportional growth than Maricopa (6.5%) .

This means the city is contributing to an increase in enrollment at a time when populations are declining across the state and metropolitan area. Phoenix economist Rick Brammer told Maricopa school board members last week that he expects the district to “grow like crazy.”

He said Maricopa Unified School District could double its enrollment over the next 10 years from its current 9,500 student population.

We asked MUSD Superintendent Dr. Tracy Lopeman this morning for her reaction to the two December analyzes.

“MUSD is proud to welcome and support Maricopa’s growing youth population,” Dr. Lopeman said. Inmaricopa. “Our schools are ready to provide a quality education that prepares our students for a successful future, and we also provide employment opportunities to our young talent so that they can grow with us as employees. We are equally committed to providing.”

“The energy and fresh perspectives they bring are invaluable to our community,” the superintendent said of the 4,600 people under the age of 19 who have come to the city in recent years.