ESTEVAN — The numbers were expected to rise, and they did, perhaps a little more than what was anticipated.
That was the word coming from South East Cornerstone Public School Division director of education Keith Keating, who discussed the increase with board members during their open business meeting in Weyburn on Oct. 11.
The full-time equivalent (FTE) enrolment, not including pre-kindergarten programs, now rests at 7,722.5 he said, or, 8,305 individual students in school classroom seats or engaged in home schooling.
In the last school year, the FTE number was 7,581.75. That translates to an overall increase of approximately 141 students in the public school division’s 36 facilities and home bases for this academic year.
The official attendance figures are recorded on the last day in September each school year and those numbers are used for the triggering of provincial funding through grant programs.
Home-schooled students this year have increased from 147 FTE last year to 164.5 this school year.
The largest schools in the division in terms of student numbers continue to be the Weyburn Comprehensive School, which caters to students from Grades 7-12, and the Estevan Comprehensive School that registers students from Grades 9-12. The WCS FTE number is 951 this year compared with 897 in the last school year.
Estevan Comprehensive School enrolment trended upwards from 752 FTE to 796.
The smallest schools recorded in terms of enrolment numbers are Manor School with 50 students on board, compared with 50.5 last year, and Wapella School with 51 enrolled this year compared with 46.5 in the last school year.
Legacy Park School is the largest elementary school in the division, since it now embraces all elementary grades in the city of Weyburn’s public school system and welcomes 555.8 FTE students this year, compared with 520.5 in the previous school year.
In providing the numbers, Keating also noted that transfers within the system were reduced to 302 this year, noting this has been a steady decline “following the COVID crisis".
During this business meeting, board members voted unanimously not to place any of the division’s 36 schools under a review process within the province’s viable schools mandate.
The next public meeting for the board will take place Nov. 22, when it is expected they will receive details from the official auditors, who were working on the division’s financial statements at the same time as the Oct. 11 session was being held.
The November session will also include the annual organizational meeting that includes committee representations for the remainder of the school year.
