Two full school months have passed and School District 79 pupils are well into their third month of learning. It’s just recently that the district has been able to finalize the number of students in Cowichan classrooms.
The statistics show there are just eight new learners attending SD79 schools this year. That brings the number to just over 8,500 pupils.
“The Board is happy to see continued growth in our District again this year,” confirmed Candace Spilsbury, chair of the SD79 Board of Education.
“Although Kindergarten registration was lower than last year, we had projected and accounted for that over the last number of years,” Spilsbury noted.
The district gets their funding not based on the numbers of bodies in seats but instead, on each student’s course load, so despite the district being up just eight students, the funding is actually increasing more.
“In our secondary schools we have seen a transition within our demographics where learners are taking more courses,” Spilsbury explained. “For Grades 10 through 12, school districts are funded through individual courses that students take. While overall numbers of enrolled students are up eight students, our funding is up because students are taking more courses this year.”
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