Demographic and enrollment forecast firm FLO Analytics has worked with West Linn-Wilsonville for five years, records show

During the Bolton Primary School Parent Teacher Association meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17, many parents wondered: What is the background of FLO Analytics, the contracting firm which compiled the West Linn-Wilsonville School District’s enrollment forecast?

FLO is a Geographic Information System (GIS) and data analytics consulting firm with offices in Portland, Seattle and Beverly, Massachusetts. Since the 2018-19 school year, FLO has worked with the school district to provide demographic and enrollment forecasts as well as the infrastructure for the district’s boundary mapping website.

Over the past five years, the district has paid FLO $68,880.45 for enrollment forecasting services and $37,120 for boundary website mapping services, totaling $106,000.45.

In 2024, the district has paid FLO $51,156 to date – slightly more than in previous years due to the enrollment forecast services done over the summer.

The forecast showed a slight decline in enrollment in West Linn schools and a moderate increase in Wilsonville over the next decade.

FLO Analytics’ forecast highlighted three factors for the difference in enrollment growth between Wilsonville and West Linn: the national trend of declining birth rates, the high cost of housing in West Linn and the low turnover for single-family homes in West Linn that results in lower primary school student enrollment overall.

Some West Linn parents questioned the enrollment forecasts during a Sept. 9 school board meeting and later at various PTA meetings. Specifically, they asked if declining growth could be accurately predicted following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Money used to pay vendors like FLO Analytics does not come out of the district’s capital construction budget and not the general fund. This is budgeted as part of the final stages of the current bond program and the beginning of the new Long Range Facilities Plan.

Capital construction bond funding is not impacted by district budget cuts and is managed by the district Bond Oversight Group.