Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) hit the nail on the head when projecting the number of students that would attend their schools this September.
Out of the 27 schools within the NLPS district, there are 6,041 students currently enrolled, numbers that will remain unofficial until the end of the month.
In Bonnyville and the MD, the preliminary numbers show there are 1,716 kids in area public schools this fall. This is around 50 less kids than the 1,772 who enrolled at the beginning of September of the 2015-16 school year.
“We are down 146 students (overall) from last year, however, I think through some fairly strong projection processes… we were projecting 6,021 students, so we are actually slightly above our projection,” said Rick Cusson, NLPS superintendent.
On Sept. 30, the board will submit the total number of students enrolled within the NLPS division to the Alberta Government.
“Once that date hits (Sept. 30), that is when we submit the numbers… and they base the funding off of those numbers. That's whether or not you lose or gain students through the year,” said NLPS board chair Mandi Skogen.
Cusson added, “Our funding is pretty much locked in at that point.”
However, he continued, that could change for this year, due to the Fort McMurray fire.
“(Alberta Education) is taking a look at what they can do to support some of those pieces, but generally that's a rule that is an anomaly.”
Last year, the board estimated approximately 20 students less than what they have seen so far this year, however, they are hoping more students will “trickle in,” over the next few weeks.
“We do see a late trickle in from the other schools as well, students usually come in after the first week,” Cusson noted.
As it stands, there are 391 students enrolled at Bonnyville Centralized High School, 44 at Bonnyville Outreach, 457 attending Duclos, 112 attending Ardmore, 267 enrolled in Glendon, 370 at H.E. Bourgoin Middle School, and 75 at Iron River.
“We love to see students come into our schools, we are really happy… It just goes to show that our cities and towns are still growing,” Skogen said. “We are just really excited for this school year to kick-off and get going.”
It was through the projection process that the board was able to determine the number of staff required for the 2016-17 school year, a number, which at this point was perfectly suited for what the board has seen so far.
In total, NLPS consists of about 750 staff throughout the district, including bus drivers, custodial, teachers, and office staff.
“The appropriate staffing reductions that were needed, were taken care of last year,” Cusson noted.
“I think there are 22 less staff than last year,” said associate superintendent of human resources Terry Moghrabi, adding that includes staff that moved from full-time to part-time equivalency.
However, Moghrabi continued, the Bonnyville area saw little change overall.
“It was probably one of the most consistent of the three communities, and it was much easier to predict… There was an increase at the elementary level, but beyond that it wasn't too exciting as far as staffing goes.”
