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Student enrolment numbers are starting to trickle in for School District 22.

Although early numbers are up slightly from last year, Supt. Christine Perkins classifies enrolment as “steady.”

“We are still early days, but the district is looking like we have 8,760 (students) at the moment, with 240 full-time equivalent international students,” she says.

Those figures would indicate an increase of 21 students so far, which is less than Perkins anticipated.

“People are still settling in around the province, and we don’t actually do our numbers count until the final day (of September).”

Perkins believes one attributing factor for not reaching anticipated growth is the lack of affordable housing in the area.

The number of students in each district dictates the amount of funding school boards receive from the province. The numbers also determine staffing levels for both teachers and support staff.

Perkins says final counts need to be sent to the Ministry of Education by the end of the month, then SD22 will have a better understanding of its funding allocation.