Tri-City Sun

Standish-Sterling Central Junior-Senior High School had the largest enrollment among Arenac County schools, welcoming 660 students during the 2024-25 school year, according to the Michigan Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2024-25 school year, 51.4% of them were boys, and 48.6% were girls.

Data also showed that most of the students were white, representing 95.5% of the Standish-Sterling Central Junior-Senior High School total enrollment.

Among the six schools in Arenac County, Standish-Sterling Central Elementary School ranked second in enrollment numbers with 654 students, while Sterling Elementary School welcomed 168 students and ranked third in the 2024-25 school year.

Standish-Sterling Central Junior-Senior High School is part of Standish-Sterling Community Schools, which roughly covers schools within Arenac County, with its main office in Standish.

In the previous school year, Standish-Sterling Central Junior-Senior High School also had the largest number of students among Arenac County schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 1,427,386 students enrolled in Michigan schools, a figure 4.8% below the pre-pandemic total of 1,499,552 in 2019-20, with white students seeing the largest decline of approximately 3%.

Academic performance in Michigan remains below pre-pandemic levels. According to the 2024 NAEP results, the share of students reaching the basic benchmark in core subjects is about 10 percentage points lower than in 2019—except for fourth-grade math, which saw a decline of just 2 points.

Achievement gaps between ethnic groups also persist. On average, Hispanic students scored 15 points below white students. The gap was even wider for Black students, who scored about 30 points lower than their white peers.

The 2025 education budget, approved by Gov. Whitmer last July, totals $23.4 billion—$900 million less than the previous year’s budget. K-12 schools are working with $20.6 billion, a reduction from the $21.5 billion allocated in 2024.

However, some school superintendents and educators were concerned about the new budget. "Schools cannot function properly without adequate funding for safety and mental health," stated Rep. David Martin, R-Davison, referring to a significant cut of around $301 million from school safety and mental health programs. Based on the current bill, the program will receive just $26.5 million.

School name	City	Total School Enrollment
Standish-Sterling Central Junior-Senior High School	Standish	660
Standish-Sterling Central Elementary School	Standish	654
Sterling Elementary School	Sterling	168
Au Gres-Sims Elementary School	Au Gres	167
Au Gres-Sims High School	Au Gres	143
Au Gres-Sims Middle School	Au Gres	104