Catholic schools down 25 students
Around 10 left territory, says assistant superintendent
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A last minute adjustment to the budget is taking pressure off the Catholic school district after it experienced an unexpected drop in enrolment this year, according to one of its assistant-superintendents.
"We are anticipating we're going to start our 2016-17 year in a better financial situation than was anticipated," said Janet Toner, who handles finances for the district.
Funding provided to Yellowknife Catholic Schools from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is based on the total number of full-time equivalency students.
Toner said this number dropped by approximately 25 students this year. This included 16 full-time and eight part-time or home-schooled pupils, who are only half-funded by the department.
In June, Toner told Yellowknifer funding in the coming years could be difficult for the Catholic school board because it is currently operating at a deficit - with its revenues for the 2015-16 school year amounting to $25 million while expenditures totalled more than $25.5 million.
In the last year, the board tried to use up its surplus because the last time it ran one, the department cut its funding in that amount. At the time, Toner said although the district bank account was running low, it could depend on the department for more funding to cover increasing teachers salaries and rising enrolment.
Friday morning Toner said the drop in enrolment will reduce funding from the department in the next cycle but emphasized the district spent $200,000 less than expected last year, which will take some of the pressure off.
Toner said overall the trend has seen YCS enrolment increase since 2010. Last year, the district had 32 more students than five years prior.
It will be up to the trustees to decide how they will manage capital concerns which include continued space issues, despite the year's drop in enrolment, Toner said.
"St. Joseph school has space issues and will continue to have space issues in the future," she said.
In 2013-14 the district received $25.3 million in funding with $25.6 million provided last year, she said.
Toner said she does not know how much the district will be funded next year because the Education Department is in
the process of changing its funding formula.
"It's difficult for me to answer because our funding formula is about to change," she said, adding that the Education Department's deputy minister is scheduled to present the new formula to trustees in December. "They've told us there won't be less money."
Jacqueline McKinnon, spokesperson for the department, did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Toner told trustees gathered for their second meeting since the board election, around 10 of the missing students have moved out of the territory with the bulk of those lost moving from Grade 10 to 11 at St. Patrick High School and from Grade 6 to 7 at St. Joseph and Weledeh schools.
"About 50 per cent (leaving the high school) are due to actually moving out of the territory and some who dropped out of high school at the Grade 10 level going into Grade 11," said Toner. "And we had some who have moved to other schools in the YK area and some who became non-attenders."
She said she compared projected enrolment across the district against the actual numbers and found 10 students who were supposed to move from Grade 6 to 7 and found 10 students missing.
"Looking at that population, we had four students move down south and one moved within the area - from St. Joseph to Weledeh, and four moved to other schools within the territory," said Toner.
Toner said the Grade 8 population - which moved last year from St. Joseph's and Weledeh to a wing connecting the latter school with St. Pat's high school - didn't lose any students over the course of its move.
"There was no impact in moving our students form the feeder schools ... to the high school," she said. "It actually resulted in an increase of one student."
Toner said the total number of aboriginal students has increased by five students. The districts receive funding from the Education department for aboriginal students, on top of funding they get for full-time or part-time students, she said.
Simon Taylor, Catholic school board chair, said the drop in student enrolment isn't alarming.
"The numbers change every year," he said. "It goes up or down each year. If we're seeing a consistent loss then that would be a concern. But you've got St. Joe's that's quite full. St. Pat's, now that it has Grade 8s, it's quite full too."
