After homeschooling their nine children for five years, Eagle Point residents Brad and Jacinta Marsh sent their three eldest children to Guadalupe Education Center to give them a Catholic education in a school environment where the class size is no more than 12.

"The curriculum is faith-based," Jacinta Marsh said. "It's a classical curriculum, and it's pretty hard, so I think they will be very well ready for college.

"The class sizes are great because the students get more attention from the teachers."

While every public school district in Jackson County, except Central Point, decreased in enrollment this year, private-school and homeschool enrollment continues to climb.

Private schools tend to have slight dips in enrollment during tight economic times, but over the past five years, most of their student bodies have remained about the same or increased.

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Data is incomplete, as officials at some schools, such as Harvest Baptist Christian School, declined to release their enrollment figures.

But private schools such as Cascade Christian High in Jacksonville and The Siskiyou School, a Waldorf school in Ashland, are expanding.

For a public school district, losing a student to a private school or homeschooling equals a cut of about $5,400 in state funding. That goes toward overall staff salaries and benefits, materials, maintenance, utilities and a host of other items, all of which generally increase in expense each year with inflation and changes in the market.

The reasons parents turn to alternatives to public schools vary. They range from a desire for smaller class sizes to wanting to give their children an education based in a particular religion to seeking a different educational model such as a Waldorf school.

"People who want to switch to a private school have all different kinds of motivations," said Paul Hammer, headmaster of Guadalupe Education Center. "Either they think the second school offers something the other one doesn't, or they're discontent with the first school."

Medford resident Karen Miller, a former teacher, chose to educate her 5-year-old son at home partly because she opposed full-day kindergarten offered at all schools with large low-income populations in the Medford School District.

"We felt like it was a long time for him to be away from home when he is learning so much and is developing his character," Miller said. "We wanted to spend more time with him, instill our values and give him a chance to be a kid."

Phoenix-Talent Schools Superintendent Ben Bergreen said some parents withdraw their children from public schools because they oppose mandatory sex education in the eighth-grade health curriculum or the requirement that they study evolution.

Others seek a slower pace of life for their children, a sense of community, a focus on the arts and a connection with nature.

The Siskiyou School, a Waldorf school propagating those values, has doubled its enrollment in the past five years.

The Marshes' eldest son, Zach, a sophomore at Guadalupe Education Center, said he prefers private school to public because of the individual attention he receives from teachers.

"You get all your questions answered," Zach said. "You work faster through the material, and all of the classes are comparable to honors classes in public schools."

The chief result of shrinking enrollment in public schools has been expanding class sizes up to nearly 40 students in some instances, said Jackson County district officials.

"Given that every year for the past five years the resources are less, I think we're doing pretty good," Bergreen said.

In the Medford district, 30 students amount to the salaries and benefits for two teachers, officials said.

"That's the tightrope districts walk," said Medford Schools Superintendent Phil Long, who has homeschooled his own two children.

However, the transfer of every homeschool and private-school pupil to public schools would not increase the overall amount of funding the state dedicates to public education, Long said. The state Legislature fixes that amount each biennium.

"The underlying question is, 'Does it really hurt us in the aggregate?'" Long said. "People who send their children to a private school have to have the means to do so, and they are also funding public education with their taxes.

"The concern is when parents feel their public education system is so deficient, they feel they have a parental obligation to send their child to a private school. It would be a benefit to everyone if kids in Oregon could get a quality education wherever they went."

Reach reporter Paris Achen by calling 541-776-4459 or pachen@mailtribune.com.