The U.S. Census Bureau has pointed to 27J Schools in Brighton to illustrate how census response can affect planning for new K-12 facilities.

27J, according to the bureau, had a population increase of 30% since the 2010 count. In 2015, the district began to issue bonds, resulting in the construction of three new schools. That, said bureau director Steven Dillingham, is why counting young children in particular is important to plan for the next 10 years of enrollment.

“A kindergartner counted in the 2020 Census … will be in high school when the next census comes around in 2030,” he said. “That’s 10 years of school supplies, teachers, school lunches and school resources that are dependent on ensuring every child is counted.”

In addition to determining the size of legislative districts, Census Bureau data also administer funding to more than 100 government programs – which exceeded $675 billion during fiscal year 2015. The national school lunch program constituted $18.9 billion in federal spending, and Title I funds to schools with low-income families totaled $14.2 billion.

For children who spend time in more than one home, the bureau advises to “count them where they stay most often,” or where they were on April 1 if their time is evenly split. The advice for counting newborn babies is to list them “where they will live and sleep most of the time.”