Rise in student numbers at SD 8 means more teachers in system
By Erin Perkins
Teachers are able to breathe a collective sigh of relief after School District 8 Kootenay Lake released the official staffing and student numbers for the 2012/2013 school year.
As of October 5 the student population was 67 students higher — for a total of 4,875.8 full-time equivalent students — than district staff had projected it would be during the budgeting process earlier this year.
This past spring SD8 had projected 19 full-time equivalent positions would be affected by declining enrollment.
About 15 teacher retirements were anticipated, 10 or more full-time term contracts may not have been renewed and 26 fewer teachers would have not been assigned to schools this September.
Instead, more teachers have been employed this year than last year, said Deanna Holitzki, SD8 director of human resources.
Four more teachers will be hired to help with the 67 more students district-wide. Last year 293 teachers were employed and this year that number will be 297.
Most of those students have signed up for the Distributed Learning Program, which combines the idea of traditional distance learning with online technology and a combined parent and teacher support network for the student. The program saw a total of 181 more students enroll this September than was projected in the spring.
“The Distributed Learning Program is becoming increasingly popular,” said Holitzki. “Distributed Learning numbers are increasing throughout the province. The program meets the needs of families with more flexibility (than the traditional school system).”
While the Distributed Learning Program students are funded at $1,000 less than a full-time equivalent student — $6,000 a year instead of $7,000 – the increase helps.
“It’s a bit of a double-edged sword because we’re still in funding protection,” said Holitzki. “But we are very happy to hear our numbers are coming up above what we projected.”
According to a press release sent out by the school district yesterday, “had the district not seen the increase in student enrolment in its Distributed Learning programs, we would have experienced the loss of teaching positions we had anticipated during our planning processes in the spring”.
Tom Newell, Nelson District Teachers’ Association president, said it is too early for him to weigh in on the matter until he’s “reviewed the new information”.
The district isn’t out of the dark yet though. Next year there will be another $750,000 shortfall, or 1.5 per cent of the $53 million budget, as the provincial government continues to wean rural school districts off of funding protection over the next three years.
In an interview this spring, superintendent Jeff Jones said the school board will be “looking at efficiency rather than at classrooms because that is the last place we want to go”.
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