Student enrollment is up on the Sunshine Coast.
Nicholas Weswick, School District 46 (SD46) secretary-treasurer began his presentation to the school board by remarking that the current draft number for student enrollment is over 3,500, reflecting a district-wide growth of 35.7 more students enrolled compared to last year.
Enrollment plays a key role in the school district and is a large component of its revenue projections for the year, Weswick said.
Elphinstone Secondary had the largest intake this year, welcoming 39 new students.
Certain pockets of enrollment growth or decline occur regularly as families move around from one catchment area to another or when a large cohort of students graduate from one school to the next, said Weswick.
Board members pointed to Halfmoon Bay Elementary, which has 25 fewer students this year, asking if there is any information or reasoning behind the change.
Kate Kerr, superintendent of schools, said the school principal spoke to each of the families that left (many of them had three children in the school) and found the majority of them were moving off-Coast, while a few were moving elsewhere within the district.
Asked about cross-boundary applications Weswick said a few schools in SD46 do not allow them, however, some schools such as West Sechelt Elementary (which gained 14 students) and Langdale Elementary (which gained 17) do allow them.
“There are a variety of different reasons for a cross-boundary request, but we try and accommodate those requests as they come in, space provided,” he said.
Board members asked if it was typical to have a larger enrollment in high schools than in elementary schools.
Weswick said the surge in enrollment making its way through the system is referred to as “the echo of the echo of the baby boomers,” and speculated that SD46 may see another surge of enrollment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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