School enrolment in the Arrow Lakes school district is on the decline, with a 7.3 percentage reduction forecast, the drop is the largest in the province, and is a loss of 20 students projected for the next school year.
Even so, no layoffs are planned, said Superintendent-Treasurer Denise Perry, who told the Arrow Lakes News the school board is waiting for two announcement from the Ministry of Education about funding.
The Learning Improvement Fund, which provides money for counselling and more time for support staff is rumoured to be on its way but is not official yet, said Perry.
The other source of money to be confirmed is hold-back funds which are determined by actual enrolment numbers, calculated with student numbers taken in February.
The loss of 20 students from the school district is a blow, said Perry, and the loss is coming with families having to move away for employment. It’s hard on families when one parent is away part-time working, she said, citing at least one family didn’t want to do that and decided to move where the work was.
One of the ways School District 10 will be saving money is through a reduction of employees due to retirement. Although there is no push to have teachers leave, Perry said she is hopeful teachers who are read will retire.
“We’re not encouraging it, but we not discouraging it either,” she said.
There are some changes in principals for School District 10, with Sue Patterson moving from Nakusp Secondary School to Nakusp Elementary. Natasha Miles will become principal at NSS, and the vacated principal position at Lucerne has been posted.
“Their staff are very happy for them,” Perry commented, who also said Patterson had told her she was excited to be back at an elementary school.
