SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Several staff laid off by Yellowknife Catholic Schools during the past school year have been rehired thanks to some crime prevention funding.

YCS superintendent Claudia Parker said seven staff were laid off before March break due to a drop in enrolment from last year's 1,415 students to only 1,343 students this year.

"All staff that were laid off last year were rehired, though they might not have gotten into the same position as they had before," said Parker.

A federal crime prevention fund is pumping $9.3 million into various programs around the NWT, and the largest chunk of that fund, $7.1 million, was given to YCS in order to establish a program specifically for at-risk youth, to teach them leadership and relationship skills, as well as coping strategies.

The program, titled Do Edaeze: YCS Leadership and Resiliency Program, is set to start at St. Patrick High School in the new year, and is now in the planning stage, according to Claudia Parker.

Meanwhile, at Yellowknife Education District 1, superintendent Metro Huculak said the district has not yet had to lay off any staff, but has faced lower enrolment. He said though no staff were laid off, their numbers have been reduced by attrition – when people resigned or retired, and were not replaced. Huculak said the board will not know how enrolment will affect the next school year's staffing until the end of February.

"We don't know where our budget sits and where our tax dollars will sit, so that will affect our budget," said Huculak. "If we get extra tax money, we'll have extra staff."