Last week, the Arizona Department of Education released enrollment numbers for the 2021-22 school year, showing an increase of enrollment, but still sitting below pre-pandemic levels.

The numbers show an increase of about 20,000 students, or 1.8%, compared to last school year. Almost 39,000 students left the state’s public schools in 2020, according to last year’s statistics.

District enrollment is up almost 3% compared to last school year, while charter school enrollment dipped slightly. Still, about 20% of Arizona students are enrolled in charter schools.

After seeing large declines during last school year, kindergarten enrollment increased by more than 9%.

Despite the increases, enrollment is still below pre-pandemic totals by about 18,000 students.