Higher-than-expected enrollment increases in the Lawrence school district are a good news, bad news scenario.

District officials said they expected an increase of anywhere from 30 to 130 students for this school year. However, the increase turned out to be about double that amount, 249 students. Most of that growth was at the district’s two high schools, which enrolled 211 more students than last year. That’s 71 more high school students than the district had expected. Middle school enrollment remained steady at one student below last year’s total, and elementary enrollment grew by 39 students.

Increased enrollment is a positive trend for Lawrence, where school enrollment dipped below projections last year. Higher enrollment is an indication that more families may be moving to Lawrence, which may contribute to an overall population increase.

In many years, school district officials would be celebrating higher enrollment numbers because more students would mean more state funding. However, that’s not the case this year. Earlier this year, the state tossed out its per-pupil formula in favor of a block-grant system that basically keeps school funding flat for two years while legislators craft a new school finance plan.

What that means for growing districts like Lawrence is added stress on limited funding. Lawrence is receiving the same amount as last year but is being asked to serve 249 more students. That’s the equivalent of about 10 elementary school classes and about one more student for every teacher in the district, but the district has no additional funding to hire teachers or provide space for those students. Lawrence school officials say that, under the old per-pupil formula, the district would have received an additional $450,000 this year.

Fortunately the bulk of the increase in Lawrence came at the high school level where elective courses make class sizes more flexible. Even though the district delayed assigning some teachers until enrollment numbers were known, there are a few elementary “hot spots” where classes are above desirable levels.

Flat school funding for the next two years and uncertainty about what kind of formula the Legislature will come up with after that make this a challenging time for local school officials. Through careful management, it seems that Lawrence school officials are stretching their resources in ways that won’t affect the quality of local schools — at least for now.