It was a typical, busy opening week for the resumption of public schools last week without the added complications caused by natural disasters that dislodge families from their homes like the start of the last school year.
That is how Central Okanagan Public Schools superintendent/CEO Kevin Kaardal described the opening days of school to trustees at the inaugural 2024-25 board of education meeting on Wednesday.
Among the registration statistics for students this fall, the projected headcount in the spring of 2024 was to see an enrolment of 24,765 students, but as of Sept. 9, that enrolment figure was at 24,402 registered in the system, representing a decrease of 363 from that original projection while still being 199 over the Sept. 30, 2023, numbers.
Kaardal noted those numbers also don't include international or alternate education students.
While he said the Sept. 30 numbers will present a more complete registration picture, he acknowledged any projection shortfall will have budget implications based on the ministry of education and childcare per pupil funding formula.
Kaardal's report to the school board cited the importance of recognizing that schools are continuing to accept registrations and following up with student absences/withdrawals, noting a more accurate final student enrolment count will be provided at the Sept. 25 board of education meeting.
Still, when registration is complete Kaardal felt the eventual financial impact of not meeting enrolment projections won't create a serious budgeting issue for the school district.
At present, there are 25,252 students attending in-class instruction and 243 attending the eSchool BC, an online learning program.
The International Education Program continues to be a popular draw for students from across the globe, with 476 fee-paying students who have arrived for the first half of the school year, and another 85 coming in the second half, representing 28 jurisdictions and countries from Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, China, Africa and the Middle East.
The school district's Welcome Centre initiative has welcomed 313 K-12 students and their families from 46 countries who have moved to Central Okanagan, an increase from the 286 students in the 2023-24 school year.
"The Central Okanagan has become a settlement destination and has seen a steady influx of families from an ever-growing number of countries from around the world," said the staff report to the board of education.
"The large numbers of newly arrived students and their families continue to have a positive impact creating a much more culturally diverse and globally aware local community."
On the school support labour front, the school district continues to recruit CEAs (Certified Education Assistants), bus drivers and other operations department staff.
As one of the largest employers in the region, surpassed only by Interior Health, Central Okanagan Public Schools has close to 3,305 employees (full-time equivalent)or 4,495 headcount which includes 56 senior administrative staff, 110 administrators (principals/vie-principals), 2,422 teachers/teachers on call and 1,907 support staff.
For the school bus transportation system, which is largely funded from school district operating funds otherwise targeted for school education programs because of an adequate funding allocation from the ministry of education, there are 3,952 eligible students currently assigned to one of the 75 school bus routes and 1,017 courtesy riders now assigned a seat.
As of Aug. 26, the wait list for students for bus routes was less than 100 students, but the transportation department has received an additional 354 applications in the last few weeks and anticipates that many of the middle and high school applications will be placed on a waitlist as most bus routes for these schools are at full capacity.
