Enrollment at Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) is steady this Fall compared to last school year at 4,219. In fact, Superintendent Dan Ward says that's exactly the same number of students submitted to the province in September 2023, something he hasn't had happen previously.
"I don't think I've ever had the exact same count," he said. "I think I was within ten (students) one year, but those numbers, of course, change month to month, but our end of September count was the exact same as last year."
Within the division's eleven schools, there was some modest fluctuation.
"We have eleven school units, and it just so happens that five schools have a modest increase, (and) we have five schools with a relatively modest decrease in the number of students," he explained. "Then we have one school, GVC (Garden Valley Collegiate in Winkler), that had the exact same number of students at this time of year as they did last year. So again, that varies month to month, but it just so happens that our kind of capture day at the end of the month was the same as last year, so it's very steady."
Division projected a modest increase of 2%
"We're under that, but this means our schools are certainly adequately staffed," he noted. "We don't have any schools that are understaffed based on the enrollment count, and then we'll keep an eye on those numbers as the year progresses in terms of staff deployment."
GVSD welcomed 28 new teachers this year and well over 40 support staff.
What were the factors at play that led to the steady student figure?
"We had a small kindergarten number this year, smaller than we had projected, and our number of graduates wasn't our biggest year, but we had a decent sized graduating class, and sometimes you just get movement within your communities. You have folks that move away. You have folks that move in."
Ward added, from a broader perspective of the last ten years outside of the pandemic years, the division has experienced modest increases and decreases but generally has been very consistent.
"Those numbers go up to 3%, sometimes they're down to 3%, but this year it's very consistent," he said. "A lot of it depends on the cohort coming up, how many kids are registered for kindergarten. We understand that some parents choose not to register their kids for kindergarten. Sometimes they wait until grade one, or they enroll their student later in the year or the following school year."
Ward added, through school visits and feedback, he's heard and seen it's been a positive start to the school year.
- With files from Alexander Peters -