Enrolment in B.C. schools is expected to rise again this year, for just the second time in nearly 20 years.
This year, the ministry of education estimates that about 529,000 full-time students will enrol in public schools. That’s up about 2,900 from last September.
“This is the second year in a row we’ve seen provincewide increases in enrolment — and we expect slight increases in many but not all districts,” said education minister Mike Bernier. “The last time we saw increases was almost 20 years ago and overall enrolment is still about 70,000 students less than it was in 2001.”
In the 2015-16 school year, enrolment jumped by about 5,000 students, due to families moving to B.C. from other provinces, students returning to the public system from private schools, and higher than expected international immigration, the ministry of education said. The ministry said it doesn’t have the details on where students are coming from this year because the numbers are all based on estimates at this point.
“Each and every new student will be fully funded to support their learning,” Bernier said. This year, the provincial average per-pupil funding is $8,963.
The city of Surrey is expecting 1,000 more students in its schools, many of which are bursting at the seams. The Surrey Board of Education is planning to hire at least an extra 70 teachers and 81 education assistants to accommodate the growth, along with several administrators and other staff. Surrey, the largest district in the province, is projecting a total of 71,350 students this fall. Sooke and Central Okanagan school districts are also growing significantly, the ministry said.
In Vancouver, where the number of students has been dropping for years and the board is faced with possibly closing 12 or more schools in the coming years, enrolment is expected to remain flat. In Richmond, where the board is considering closing up to five schools, enrolment is also not expected to grow this year.
BCTF’s new president Glen Hansman said the expected increase is good news, especially since it’s the second straight year for growth, but he expressed concern that full funding for the students wouldn’t be given to districts.
“The province better be giving the money (to school districts) that reflects these numbers, which are going to keep going up,” Hansman said. “We knew from looking at StatsCan data that we had hit the bottom and that kindergarten numbers were going to start going back up. That’s expected to continue.
“It really puts some of these conversations around school closures in a different light … because we’re going to need those spaces down the road and the services need to be there for those students, too.”
Hansman said it’s difficult to know if Vancouver’s school population numbers will grow over the long run.
“The affordability piece is the real wild card,” Hansman said.
Hansman said last year the ministry was adamant that all new students would be funded, but that when BCTF asked districts there was a lot of frustration and confusion around whether they got all the money.
“Now that we know this before the school year even starts, the timing is a lot better and the money for those students better be flowing to districts so we can be hiring people as necessary and constituting more appropriate class compositions,” Hansman said.
About 82,000 students, or 13 per cent of all students, in B.C. attend independent or private schools. In the 2014-15 school year, enrolment spiked at independent schools by about 5,000 students following a teachers’ strike that shuttered schools for five weeks in 2014.
Here’s what’s in store this fall by the numbers:
529,000
That’s the estimated number of full-time students expected in B.C. public schools this fall, up about 2,900 from September last year. Enrolment overall has fallen for about 20 years, but rose last year. The increase of about 5,000 students last year was because of families moving to B.C. from other provinces, students returning to the public system from private schools, and higher than expected international immigration, the ministry of education said. The provincial average per-pupil funding is $8,963.
60,359
That’s the number of English Language Learning students expected in B.C. this year, which is 461 more than last year. Also, the number of aboriginal students is up by 345 to an estimated 57,351 students this year. The number of students eligible for supplemental funding for special needs is also up by 627 to more than 27,260 students.
69,700
That’s the number of students who took at least one online course last year. That number has doubled in the past decade.
1,581
There are 1,581 public schools and 350 independent schools in B.C. This includes 67,107 K-12 classes with class-size averages of 19.7 students for kindergarten, 21.8 students for grades 1-3, 26.0 students for grades 4-7, and 23.4 students for grades 8-12.
82,000
That’s the number of students enrolled at independent schools in 2015-16. That number is up by about 21,000 since 2000-01. About 13 per cent of all students in B.C. attend independent or private schools.
9,800
Nearly 9,800 full-time educational assistants work in schools, a number that is up by 48 per cent since 2000-2001. Educational assistants work with special needs students. About one-third of all classes in the province have an educational assistant.
83.9%
That’s the percentage of students in B.C. in 2014-2015 who completed high school six years after starting Grade 8. That includes a six-year completion rate of 63 per cent for aboriginal students, a rate of 86.2 per cent for English Language Learners and a rate of 65.9 per cent for students with special needs.
$5.10 billion
School district funding is $5.10 billion for the upcoming school year. That includes $52 million in Community Link funding, which supports breakfast and lunch programs, inner-city and community school programs, as well as school-based support workers and counselling, all for vulnerable children and youth.
$560 million
That’s the amount the provincial government plans to spend on seismically upgrading schools over the next three years. Since 2001, 153 schools have been seismically upgraded, but there are 128 schools that remain at high risk for damage in an earthquake.
$100 million
That’s the size of the Learning Improvement Fund, which is designed to “address complex classroom needs.” Districts used this fund to hire 313 full-time teachers, 848 new part-time teachers, 44 new full-time support staff and 198 new part- time support staff and to bump up other teachers and staff from part-time to full-time.
All numbers provided by the Ministry of Education
