Photo: SD83

The North Okanagan-Shuswap School District has seen a drop in funding of just over $2.4 million due to reduced enrolment this fall.

As of Sept. 30, enrolment stood at 6,427 full-time equivalent students, down six from last fall and 90 fewer than budget projections.

Supt. Peter Jory notes 350 students are also currently on "soft start," or temporarily learning through the Educational Outreach Program.

In response, staffing at five schools has been reduced to bring the number of students closer to class size contract language.

Even with the reorganization, Jory notes class sizes are smaller than last year. 

This school year, including holding empty seats for students not yet transitioned back to school, there is an average of 18.1 students per class at the kindergarten level, 19.7 at primary, 22.5 at intermediate, and 22.3 at secondary.

With the decrease in student enrolment from projections, fewer students with funded diverse needs in attendance, and the district no longer qualifying for additional funding through the Classroom Enhancement Fund, the district's revenue is $2,437,528 short of projections.

In order to mitigate the budget shortfall, the district has reduced 5.85 full-time equivalent classroom teachers in five different schools, not filled open positions on the instructional leadership team, and used $50,000 in federal funds to cover some of the cost of custodial cleaning supplies, and $25,100 of provincial funding for auto-scrubbers to decrease costs by $800,100.

This leaves an operating shortfall of $1,082,444.

The five school where teachers were cut include Shuswap Middle School, M.V. Beattie Elementary, Highland Park Elementary, South Broadview Elementary, and Bastion Elementary.

Jory said the district needs to budget carefully, as there are additional costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, cleaning supplies and extra custodial time is costing the district an additional $40,000 a week.

Meanwhile, stats received from last year show the district's graduation rate has increased from 84% in 2018-19 to 88% in 2019-20. 

"This is a tribute to better systems, improved alignment and a heck of a lot of work by our staff," said Jory.