CARLYLE - The enrolment numbers for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division are consistent with last year, but one school in Carlyle has seen a considerable increase.
Figures released by the division show it had 8,301 students as of Sept. 30, which is up by eight from the 8,293 they had for the same date a year ago. Sept. 30 is the day in which school divisions in Saskatchewan submit their official registration numbers to the Ministry of Education, although there will be some fluctuation over the course of the school year.
“We’ve been pretty stable the last few years in terms of enrolment,” said director of education Keith Keating. “It’s good to see the numbers go up slightly and not down.”
There were 8,246 in the division at the end of the last school year.
The Gordon F. Kells High School in Carlyle, which is a Grade 7-12 school, had 218 students this year, compared with 183 in 2021. Keating said the number of students was higher than what they expected.
“We have contingency staffing for places that have large increases in students, so that we can make sure we staff them appropriately,” said Keating.
The Carlyle Elementary School, meanwhile, had 231 students, compared with 225 a year earlier.
As for other schools in the Carlyle area, Arcola School had 237 students, compared with 244 in 2021; Manor School was at 51 students, down from 54 the previous year; Redvers School dropped from 285 to 275 students; Alameda School jumped from 88 to 92 students; Oxbow Prairie Horizons School was at 369 students on Sept. 30, down from 377 for the same date last year; the Carnduff Education Complex had 320 students, down from 334; Carievale School had 88 students, down from 97; Wawota Parkland School jumped from 205 to 216 students; Maryfield School jumped from 88 to 94; Lampman School dropped from 174 to 168 students; and Stoughton Central School was at 163 as opposed to 157 last year.
“We always see fluctuations in different communities, up and down in different years, so it’s pretty much expected a lot of those numbers,” said Keating.
The number of students being home schooled is down slightly, but remains around the 300 mark, he said.
The director of education pointed out there is a level of excitement to start the school year in a normal fashion after all of the challenges that have occurred since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m excited about all of the great things that will be happening in schools across our division, as schools re-engage with communities and parents to bring them back into the buildings,” said Keating.
With the addition of some one-time funding from the provincial government to address inflation issues for transportation and other expenses, the school division is looking to use the money as much as possible to put teachers back in classroom.
“The board passed a budget on September 21st at their monthly meeting to increase staff in schools across the division,” Keating said. So between the contingency staff that we put away to help address individual school increases in enrolment, and the one-time funding, we’re looking at being able to put back at least 14 of those 21 teachers that had to be reduced as a result of funding shortfalls last year.”
