BARRHEAD/WESTLOCK - Although Kindergarten enrolments are a little below expectations, there are 50 more Grade 1-12 students attending community schools in Pembina Hills than the division had budgeted for, according to the enrolment count done on Sept. 29, 2022.
Pembina Hills School Division trustees passed a motion accepting the 2022-2023 Student Enrolment report during their Oct. 26 meeting, with acting secretary-treasurer Gordon Marjeran highlighting the enrolment numbers excluding Vista Virtual School.
He said Pembina Hills had budgeted for a total of 252 Early Childhood Services (Kindergarten) students and counted a total of 244 as of Sept. 29.
Most schools accurately predicted their Kindergarten numbers with only small variances. The one major exception was Barrhead Elementary School, which had projected 80 students but had only enrolled 68.
In terms of Grade 1-9 enrolments, Pembina Hills budgeted for a total of 2,381 students but ended up with 2,421, a difference of 40.
The school with the biggest gains, R.F. Staples School in Westlock ended up with 25 more Grade 7-9 students than what they had been budgeted for, with its junior high enrolment coming in at 261 students.
Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) had a total of 326 Grade 7-9 students, which was 17 more than what the school had budgeted for, while Barrhead Elementary School (BES) counted a total of 507 Grade 1-6 students, which was 21 more than what was budgeted for.
Dunstable School also managed to bring in six more students than expected, bringing their enrolment up to 53. Finally, Swan Hills had seven more students than they had budgeted for, finishing with 149 Grade 1-9 students.
Not all schools were fortunate to see gains, however. Eleanor Hall School in Clyde counted a total of 172 students, which was 15 less than what was budgeted for.
Fort Assiniboine School also had a total enrolment of 76, but they had been projecting 86, a difference of 10. Neerlandia Public Christian School, meanwhile, had projected 225 students but only had 214, a difference of 11.
Busby School, Pembina North Community School and Westlock Elementary School only had minor variances from their budget projections.
In terms of Grade 10-12 enrolments, Pembina Hills had 10 more students than expected, having budgeted for 836 students in total.
Once again, R.F. Staples had the biggest gains with 21 more students than expected for a total Grade 10-12 enrolment of 370. However, Swan Hills suffered a loss of 10 students compared to their expectations.
Overall, Marjeran said Pembina Hills had a net gain of 42 K-12 students this year, adding that it won’t have a major financial impact because of the weighted moving average methodology adopted by the province a couple years ago.
As for Vista Virtual School (VVS), there were a total of 219 Grade 1-9 and 1,129 Grade 10-12 students enrolled in the distance learning program. The division budgeted for 2,156 Grade 1-12 students at Vista Virtual but only came in at 1,347, a difference of more than 800.
However, Marjeran noted that it is hard to project Vista Virtual’s enrolments.
“We don’t have enough history to be able to accurately predict where we are going to go, budget-wise,” he said.
Also, Vista Virtual takes in students during its second semester, so the enrolment numbers are likely to change.
"Overall, I think the enrolments look good,” he said.
Board chair Judy Lefebvre asked if the larger student counts at BCHS and R.F. Staples would cause any issues that would necessitate dipping into reserves. Marjeran said he hadn’t received any requests along those lines.
She also asked if it was necessary for Kindergarten numbers to be counted as of the end of September, as that program can add students as the year goes on.
Marjeran said the enrolment counts were fixed as Sept. 30, but there was some more flexibility when it comes to pre-Kindergarten student funding.
