SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
If a trend bringing 50 or more new kindergarteners to J.H. Sissons School each year continues, the school known for its involvement in the infamous school swap debate is going to start having space issues.

The school was identified as the building needing the most renovations out of the district's eight facilities.

It was one of the possible candidates when the GNWT asked the district to consider turning over a school following a 2012 NWT Supreme Court order to provide more space for the Commission scolaire francophone de Territoires Nord-Ouest. A year-long discussion between Yk1 and parents revealed they weren't willing to part with the aging structure.

Its popularity is evident in the fact enrolment is growing, said Yk1 superintendent Metro Huculak. Enrolment across the district has increased by 35 students this year - from 1,810 last year to 1,845 this year. During the board's regular meeting Nov. 10, he said the school enrolled 50 students in kindergarten last year, and they've got around the same number signed up this year. If the trend continues, he said, the school is going to start having space issues.

However, in December 2013 Yellowknifer reported none of the schools in the district were at full capacity. J.H. Sissons and William McDonald were only at 63 and 31 per cent respectively with total enrolment for all schools at 1,829.

Issues of capacity aren't the district's only capital concern. Trustee Allan Shortt said William McDonald Middle School needs a new roof. He said the cost will be in excess of $50,000, so the district will have to submit a request for proposals to tender out the work.

Huculak said the district has a number of capital concerns on its plate and he's meeting with David Stewart, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment's deputy minister, in the coming days to underline capital needs.

Tram Do, director of corporate services, said the department has already announced at least one capital expenditure they'll be making in city schools. She said it's the 10th year of the Drop-The-Pop campaign - an initiative to get students making healthy diet choices during school hours - and in celebration of a decade of the program, the GNWT is going to let each school spend up to $1,000 on installing a new drinking fountain.

Shortt said the new fountains will make many students happy, since they've been bringing their water to school in bottles.

"The water from some of the school drinking fountains gets stale," he said.

Elvis Beaudoin, supervisor of facilities and maintenance, said $1,000 will buy each school a modern fountain which chills the water before it's ejected from the spout.

"You're going to make a lot of kids happy," said Shortt.

The district has enrolled a total of 1,845 students this year. J.H Sissons School has 249 students, with 28 aboriginal students, Sir John Franklin High School has 616 with 242 aboriginal students, William McDonald Middle School has 177 with 41 aboriginal students, Mildred Hall School has 228 with 161 aboriginal students, N.J. Macpherson Elementary School has 272 with 69 aboriginal students and Range Lake North School has 301 with 72 aboriginal students.

Janet Toner, assistant-superintendent for Yellowknife Catholic Schools, said the board should know what their enrollment numbers for the year within the week. Nov. 9, she said the Department of Education, Culture and Employment had hoped to have the numbers finalized already but a clerical error caused the delay. Before noon last Friday she said they hoped to have the problem ironed out by the end of the day.

"Students we thought were enrolled in Dettah may actually be showing up on Yellowknife lists (right now)," she said.

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