Fine arts, PE to see boost in budget
Higher enrolment helps Yk1 finances
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, April 13, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Yellowknife Education District 1 budget for next year should see a boost to both fine arts and physical education.
Yellowknife Education District 1 Superintendent Metro Huculak said higher student enrolment is helping boost the district's budget. That means there should be more room for fine arts and physical education services next year. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
Early start for schools
School starts early next year for Yk1. Classes across the district will begin on Aug. 31, which falls before Labour Day.
This is the first time Superintendent Metro Huculak can remember this happening in Yk1, and said it might just be a one-off event.
"It's the way the calendar works out," he said. "Otherwise, we would have to go until the end of June."
June is a beautiful month and kids are antsy to get outside, he said.
Huculak said any concerns about the early start disappeared upon the realization that school would otherwise have to go until June 30. In 2016, he said the calendar will likely change back to normal.
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"We're looking at how we can provide more music and more physical education time within our budget," said Superintendent Metro Huculak.
Parents identified these as priorities, Huculak said, and higher enrolment which governs funding should facilitate that.
He also heard from parents that every school should have physical education teachers.
Currently, those duties are spread out among staff, some of whom don't have physical education training. The district is meeting with principals to see what increased staffing possibilities exist.
"We're going to try to make sure there is somebody in each school who is physical education trained to work with kids," said Huculak.
John Stephenson, Yk1 board chair, said it plays into the district's healthy schools priority.
"It's always a balancing act," he said about the budget. "We don't get dedicated funding from the Department of Education for those educational opportunities, so we need to fit it into the budget allocation that we receive and ensure we're meeting all of the other requirements for educational services."
The draft budget will go to ratepayers in a public meeting in May, and then to the board for approval.
