The District student population is 15,054.2 which is a decline of 311.4 students from June of 2005. Approximately 13% of our students are First Nations. Enrollment has been decreasing for a number of years and is expected to decrease as far into the future as we can project. September 30, 2005 enrollment is as follows:
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Elementary - 8,045.5 |
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Secondary - 6,687.2 |
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Aboriginal Students - 2,059 |
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Low Incidence/High Cost Special Education Students - Category A-H 546 |
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Virtual School Programs - 222.0 |
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Adult Education programs - 99.5 |
The district has been confronting a number of very significant challenges over the last few years, which have compounded the issue of enrollment decline. The continued softwood lumber dispute with the United States and other economic factors have contributed to young families leaving the central interior in search of work. However, over the past two years the enrollment declines in School District 73 have not been as severe as projected. There are new students arriving in the district at a variety of grade levels, which means that there is some movement back into the interior of British Columbia. Also, district initiatives, such as our new Distributive Learning Center, our Fine Arts School, our Montessori Program and our International Initiatives have helped to increase revenue and lessen the impact of enrollment decline. We will monitor this closely over the next few years. In addition, it should be noted that despite an enrolment decline of 311.4 students by September 30, 2005 no teaching staff were laid off and 10.9 FTE teaching positions were added along with 13 FTE support staff positions. The additional teaching positions have allowed us to ensure that, in addition to the class size limits in the primary grades, that we have no classes in the core subjects greater than 30 from grades four to twelve as of September 30th. The additional support staff positions have allowed us to increase our support in a number of areas like special education despite the enrollment decline. Throughout these past economic difficulties and continued enrollment decline, the District remains true to its fundamental mission of providing quality public education. It does so by focusing on its primary goals of literacy, numeracy, reducing the gap for our aboriginal students, and social responsibility. The strategies for realizing these goals are outlined in this Accountability Contract. Fulfillment of these goals will mean improvement in student achievement. | 
