Let’s not miss the significance of what Brian White is telling us.

The Butler schools superintendent says he believes the district’s decades-long enrollment decline has leveled out. On Monday, White shared some comparative enrollment statistics with the school board. In 2015, the numbers show, the student body began declining at a rate that outpaced other districts in the county. But this year the district has only a dozen fewer students than it did a year ago. indicating the shrinking has ceased.

White believes that the enrollment numbers are beginning to stabilize three years after a consolidation that included the closing of four elementary schools.

To be clear, stable enrollment is crucial for the district, since state funding is based on the number of students enrolled, and a growing proportion of the local school budget depends on state tax revenue.

There’s an strong urge to add a grain of salt to the superintendent’s optimistic assessment. We should acknowledge the impulse, but we also should resist it, remaining hopeful that White is accurate in spotting a reversal of the long-running enrollment trend.

Even if he’s wrong or — slightly better — premature in his forecast, it doesn’t change the fact that Butler urgently needed to consolidate. There’s no denying the truth that the district was hemorrhaging money maintaining much more property than it needs to educate the community’s student body.

This truth has been among White’s chief guiding scenarios since he became superintendent. It adds clout to the words he spoke Monday to the board. Words that bear repeating:

“The district had to consolidate, but we have to listen to our constituents. We’re not done. We have some hard questions ahead of us. But we have to stop and listen. If we irritate all our constituents, we will continue to drop.”

That sounds something like a blend of an invitation and an urgent plea for the community to stay involved in the important decision-making that lies ahead. We should be gratified that the administrative head of the district take an earnest interest in the community’s concerns and opinions. We should respond.

Two meetings have been scheduled for Oct. 23 at the Intermediate High School.

The first, from 4 to 6 p.m., will be a forum for community members to voice what the district’s priorities should be. Topics like class size, electives and technology will be discussed.

The second, to begin at 6 p.m., will focus on the district’s buildings. Participants will be asked to weigh in on which buildings’ maintenance should be prioritized, and which specific capital projects are worth pursuing.

Please consider attending.

— TAH