At least 14,000 more students are expected next year, and education leaders will ask the Legislature for nearly $70 million to handle growth alone.

The Utah State Board of Education agreed on its budget request Friday after reviewing state enrollment numbers. Student populations in public schools were up 2.8 percent across the state and more than 6 percent in one district.

The numbers did not surprise state staffers.

"We were off only two-tenths of a percent in this year's projections," school statistics specialist Randy Raphael told the state school board's finance committee.

His presentation included ethnic breakdowns and statistics about the state's charter school students. In the past 10 years, Asian, American Indian and Pacific Islander populations have remained relatively stable, while the percentage of Latino students has doubled to 13 percent. White students now make up nearly 81 percent of the pool, compared with nearly 89 percent in 1997.

Charter schools boast 7,767 new students this year, a 67.4 percent increase over 2005. The 19,000-strong charter school population is expected to grow another 25 percent next year.

In traditional public schools, Washington and Tooele districts saw the largest percentage growth this year, logging 4.8 percent and 6.1 percent increases, respectively. Alpine and Jordan saw the largest number of new students, with more than 1,200 showing up in each district.

Few districts lost significant numbers of students. Granite district's enrollment was down 565 kids, but that represents less than 1 percent of its mammoth population. In fact, Utah's four largest districts - Alpine, Davis, Granite and Jordan - account for more than half the state's student population.