DENVER – Enrollment in Colorado public schools has dropped by about 30,000 students this year, or 3%, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first year-to-year decrease in the state public school system reported in more than 30 years, officials said.

The state Department of Education announced preliminary enrollment figures on Tuesday after students were counted in October, The Colorado Sun reported.

Some of the state’s 178 school districts sustained 10% enrollment decreases during the academic year, officials said, citing concerns about district budgets that are based on student counts.

School districts could sustain significant financial losses depending on how the Legislature decides to fund education during the next legislative session, said Colorado School Finance Project Executive Director Tracie Rainey.

“It could be devastating if they make a reduction,” Rainey said. “There is no way that school districts could absorb that kind of cut.”

Enrollment at Denver Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, was reported at 89,061 students, about 3,000 students fewer than in October 2019.

Enrollment at Colorado Springs School District 11 experienced the largest percentage decline with 23,885 students enrolled this fall, 2,155 students fewer than last year, or about an 8% drop.

Department of Education Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Okes said the declines in enrollment happened in part because of remote learning and because more families chose to home-school their children to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The number of students being home-schooled this year doubled to 15,773 this year from 7,880 in 2019, department officials said.

It’s not yet clear if the decline in enrollment is a long-term effect of the pandemic.