Kristeen Eichstaedt, left, and Natalie Schmidt, both 5-year-old kindergarten students at Meadowbrook Elementary School, work on an assignment Tuesday at the school. Enrollment in many county school districts is up this year.

WAUKESHA - Some public school districts in Waukesha County are experiencing a mini boom in student enrollment this year, which could be the direct result of a flailing economy and families being unable to pay for private school education.

According to administrators across the county, districts are seeing more students entering their schools in kindergarten and ninth grade. The correlation could be because there are less families out there who can afford tuition, so they’re sending them to public schools, which administrators say is always perceived as free.

"Look at enrollment for the last decade in the district and it’s almost completely flat, so this is kind of an anomaly," said Ross MacPherson, coordinator of financial services for the New Berlin School District. "The bump is in kindergarten and ninth grade ... it could be an influx of students from private schools or parochial schools. We don’t know for sure, but it’s a welcome addition."

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(Freeman staff writers Caley Clinton and Rasmieyh Abdelnabi contributed to this report.)