Budget cuts of up to $5 million next school year due to declining enrollment and increased costs are set to be discussed at the Cupertino Union School Board meeting this evening at 6 p.m.

In the next five years, enrollment at the Cupertino Unified School District is expected to fall by more than 1,200 students, according to enrollment projection consultants hired by the School Board.

“The projected difference from just October 2017 to October 2018 is by 478 students,” according to their report. “A decline by another 378 is forecast in the following year.”

By 2022, fewer than 16,800 students are expected to attend the school district’s schools compared with the current figure of 18,001.

“Soaring housing prices, including rents, since 2012 are believed to be the main cause of these declining numbers of younger students and births, with many young families no longer being able to afford living in the area,” according to a summary of the report’s findings.

See the full report here.

With school attendance in California linked to school district funding, the School Board is seeing a decline in funds at the same time as it is seeing increased costs for employees. It is now looking for ways to reduce the General Fund budget by up to $5 million for the 2018-19 school year via cuts and new revenue generation ideas, according to the CUSD website.

The School Board has encouraged input from CUSD families as they enter the initial stages of this planning process. The Board has asked staff, parents/guardians and community members to participate in their three question survey that will allow the Budget Advisory Committee to consider options when making budget cuts for the upcoming school year.

The CUSD Budget Input Survey asks participants to identify what they want the Budget Advisory Committee to consider when making cuts and to share any concerns or fears they have about budget cutting.

The survey will be open until January 10.

For more information, click here.

Correction: This story has been corrected to state that district enrollment numbers are projected to fall by 1,200 in the next five years. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated those numbers reflected the last five years.