Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
For the first time in 20 years, Rolling River School Division is recording an increase in student enrolment.
While it’s only a jump of about six students, the division is pleased to see a change from the declining trend.
“Our initial numbers are kind of exciting,” said Supt. Reg Klassen. “We have more kindergarten students than we have Grade 12 students on the first day of school, which is something that we haven’t had for the last 20-25 years.”
As of the first day of school this year, Rolling River had 1,708 students. Last June, the enrolment number was at 1,703.
“We were expecting a loss of 25 students,” Klassen said. “We now climbed a little bit, just a few … but nonetheless, it’s not a loss of 25.”
Rolling River encompasses schools in Douglas, Erickson, Forrest, Oak River, Onanole, Rapid City, Rivers, Minnedosa, as well as four Hutterite Colony schools. For decades enrolment had been on the decline.
“We have easily averaged a loss of 50 students per year for the last 20 years for sure,” Klassen said. “From June 2011 to September 2011 … we lost 100.”
Two schools have seen an unexpected jump in the division. Rivers Elementary has gone up 22 students from last June to this September, while Forrest Elementary has gone up 14 students.
“It’s good news. We hope it stays that way and … it would be lovely if those trends continue,” Klassen said.
“For a long time we’ve been struggling with a declining population in students so it’s nice to see that there might be a chance that levels off or stops or maybe even goes the other way.”
One school that is experiencing a fairly significant decline this year is Erickson Elementary.
“Usually they’re pretty stable, it might just be a one-year blip,” Klassen said.
Meanwhile, Turtle Mountain School Division seems to be holding steady.
“We’re down three students overall around the division, but we’re up 28 from what we projected in January,” said Supt. Neil Finch. “That’s pretty significant actually, in a smaller school division.”
Turtle Mountain’s schools are located in Boissevain, Killarney and Minto, and also includes four Hutterite Colony schools.
Killarney School saw a jump of roughly 24 students this year in the kindergarten to Grade 4 level.
“There’s a lot of younger students moving in that weren’t expected to be here with us, so that’s been big for us,” Finch said.
Turtle Mountain’s preliminary enrolment number is at 978. Last year at this time, the enrolment was 981.
Between 2003 and 2008, the division saw significant declines every year. For the past three years, the number has been hovering around 980.
“Declining enrolment is definitely at the front lines of all rural school divisions,” Finch said. “So the challenge is still there.”
Southwest Horizon School Division’s enrolment is down slightly from last year’s numbers.
“We’ve dropped about a dozen from last September, but up 14 from our estimates,” said Supt. Brad Kyle.
Southwest Horizon’s schools are located in Deloraine, Wawanesa, Hartney, Lauder, Melita, Souris, Pierson and Waskada.
“Our trend is pretty much status quo,” Kyle said. “We don’t have any dramatic swings really in enrolment, at least in the last five years or so.”
Kyle credits the division’s ability to remain at status quo to the increased economic activity in the area.
“We’ve got energy development in the area that’s bringing a few folks in, more to the southern part of the division,” he said.
Kyle said the close proximity of Souris and Wawanesa to Brandon also helps to keep numbers up.
Meanwhile, Fort la Bosse School Division is continuing the downward trend in enrolment. This year, the division is down about 20 students, which is on par with what it has seen over the past four years.
“We’ve been in a gradual decline,” said Supt. Barry Pitz. “We do think that certainly it has to tap out here at some point because there’s a lot of people in the area. We can’t keep losing students. I think at some point we’ll probably — at least I’m very hopeful — that we will start to gain our numbers back.”
Fort la Bosse encompasses schools in the areas of Virden, Reston, Elkhorn, Kola and Oak Lake.
The number of students in Fort la Bosse at the beginning of September was 1,344. Last year there were roughly 1,364 students.
» jaustin@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition September 26, 2012
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For the first time in 20 years, Rolling River School Division is recording an increase in student enrolment.
While it’s only a jump of about six students, the division is pleased to see a change from the declining trend.
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For the first time in 20 years, Rolling River School Division is recording an increase in student enrolment.
While it’s only a jump of about six students, the division is pleased to see a change from the declining trend.
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