Brookhaven School District Superintendent Dr. Lisa Karmacharya reported an enrollment increase during a called board meeting Tuesday to deal with student transfers.

     “We’ve had a fairly significant increase in enrollment, which is exciting,” Karmacharya said.

     The district’s enrollment is over 3,000 for the first time in five years, said the superintendent.

     The increases seem to be spread out over the district and not concentrated at a specific school. However, Mamie Martin Elementary, Alexander Jr. High and Brookhaven High School seem to be a bit more noticeable in their enrollment hikes, Karmacharya said.

     District enrollment was reported at 3,049 as of Tuesday, though school leaders warn enrollment will remain fluid for several weeks.

     Karmacharya said she couldn’t speculate on any reason for the increase without more detailed analysis of the data to determine where the students are coming from.

     The board met for a called meeting Tuesday to approve the transfer of 53 students into the district.

     Due to some administrative matters, no transfers were dealt with at the July board meeting, Karmacharya said. The board wasn’t scheduled to meet again until Aug. 28.

     “I didn’t think we should wait until the end of the month,” Karmacharya said to board members. “I don’t think that’s the way to treat children.”

     The transfers include 10 students to BHS, 11 to Alexander Jr. High, eight to Lipsey Middle School, 11 to Brookhaven Elementary School and 13 to Mamie Martin.

     Most of the students were transferring in from the Lincoln County School District, though Karmacharya said there may have been a few from surrounding counties.

     The board also approved the transfer of 10 students with parents teaching in other districts out of the Brookhaven district. This included nine to Lincoln County and one to McComb.

     Laws allow students to transfer out of districts they are zoned for if they have parents teaching in another district, Karmacharya said.

     “I would reluctantly move to approve these transfers out,” said board member Stan Patrick.