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When Collier County high schools open next August, district officials anticipate the schools will have 600 fewer students.

While schools across the district are feeling the crunch, perhaps the two schools that are hardest hit are Golden Gate and Lely high schools.

“Those are the areas hardest hit by the economic downturn,” Collier schools Superintendent Dennis Thompson said. “We have lost a number of students who went to those schools because their parents had to move to find work elsewhere... This is an issue we are going to have to take on.”

Golden Gate and Lely high schools each had about 1,400 students enrolled as of Friday, according to the Collier County School District’s Web site.

That number is about 600 fewer students than at the county’s largest high school, Gulf Coast, and about 200 students fewer than Naples High School.

The numbers concern district officials because fewer students mean fewer educational opportunities for students.

“If enrollment decreases, you don’t have the allocations you once had,” Thompson said.

Golden Gate High Principal Jose Hernandez said the loss of students at his school is a result of the economic downturn. More and more families have left the Golden Gate zone to seek employment and affordable housing elsewhere.

In addition to the economic impact, Hernandez said Golden Gate has had a smaller ninth-grade class.

Hernandez said the school curriculum hasn’t been affected by the declining enrollment and spoke of how the school has increased its Advanced Placement offerings 300 percent since opening its doors. The school also started medical, culinary and teaching academies to encourage students to pursue careers in those fields.

Lely High School Principal Ken Fairbanks said Lely has seen a decrease in its enrollment for some time. He said he is concerned about his students who are also finding jobs to help support their families in the economic downturn.

“It is hard for them to worry about academics when they are working two jobs to make sure their family has food on the table,” he said.

To help solve the problem, Thompson is proposing a series of forums to get community input on a solution.

“We have to decide what we will do if enrollment continues to drop,” Thompson said. “How do you get good community feedback? It is not going to be at a board meeting. You have to go to the areas that are affected.”

Thompson said he has been contacted by several parents involved with the Lely High School Advisory Committee about the issue and their concern that their students will have opportunities taken from them.

The superintendent said while he has opinions on what should be done, nothing is off the table, including combining the schools.

Fairbanks said he believes the two schools need to remain separate.

“You have two very proud schools,” he said. “It concerns me because you want the students to feel good about the schools they go to.”

Thompson also discussed plans for video conferencing.

“Say you have 13 students who want to take AP calculus at School ‘X’. You could video conference with another class at another school and pay the teacher a stipend for the extra students,” he said. “The students could submit their homework through the school mail. This obviously won’t work with classes that have a lab component, but it could work in certain classes.”

Hernandez said he believes that the secret to Golden Gate’s success is its programs. He believes that should be used to entice students and parents to choose Golden Gate High School and remain there.

“We can stop the spiraling downturn through creative programming, information and knowledge,” he said.

One piece of that knowledge, is dispelling the idea that schools with declining enrollment are bad schools.

“Both Golden Gate and Lely are good schools with positive environments,” Hernandez said. “Parents should never fear sending their kids here.”

The one option he is not likely to support, Thompson said, is rezoning.

Thompson said it would not be prudent to rezone a school during a time when the district is losing students.

Fairbanks agreed, adding that it was rezoning Lely to accommodate a loss of students at Naples High years ago and rezoning more students to Golden Gate that contributed to a decline in enrollment.

Fairbanks said possibilities for the schools could include bringing new academy programs to the school or considering a magnet program that could be hosted at Lely to attract more students.

It is not only academics, but extracurricular activities that could suffer from declining enrollment, Thompson said.

“You need enough kids to be able to field a team,” he said.

With declining enrollment, it is hard for the smaller schools to compete, Fairbanks said.

“The other schools have a larger band, a larger number of students who play football and basketball,” he said.

But students and parents shouldn’t expect to see a change soon. The earliest a solution could be implemented is the 2009-10 school year, Thompson said.

“Whatever we decide, it will affect those students who attend those schools. The students and families go to Lely or Golden Gate because they want to stay there and they are committed to those schools,” he said. “We need to remember that.”