Enrolment is up for Christ the Teacher Catholic Schools (CTTCS) this year.
At its regular meeting October 5, the Board of Education received a report from Barbara MacKesey, director of educaton, showing a total enrolment of 1,703 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12, an increase of 37 kids or 2.2 per cent.
Trustee Jerome Niezgoda called the stats “good news.”
French Immersion numbers were also up across the board with 272 students compared to 258 in 2014-2015, a bump of 5.4 per cent.
The increases were shared by most of the nine schools in the division. Only St. Alphonsus, St. Henry’s Junior (Melville), and St. Paul’s saw decreases and those were only 2.6, 0.7 and 1.3 per cent respectively. Dreambuilders, the alternative school run out of SIGN on Broadway, saw the largest increase of 6.9 per cent. Home-based education was dramatically up by 75 per cent, but the overall number of students being home-schooled is so small, 14 this year compared to eight last year, it is unclear whether the number is statistically significant.
Growing enrolment does have its challenges however. The Board also received a Facilities Report Monday that indicated four schools, St. Alphonsus, St. Michael’s, St. Paul’s and St. Henry’s Junior currently exceed provincial guidelines for gross utilization rate.
The utilization rate measures to what extent the available space in a school is used for classroom instruction, basically enrollment divided by classroom capacity.
Delmar Zwirskey, CTTCS chief financial officer, assured the trustees that only St. Alphonsus, at 130 per cent utilization rate, was really in need of increased capacity.
In the report he notes: “In some respect, the Ministry standards do not reflect 21st century teaching and support service delivery. However, the General Instruction percentages do provide a consistent measurement and tool for a relative comparison of all schools. Utilization over 100 per cent does not necessarily mean additional classroom space is required.”
Nevertheless, Zwirsky told the board he is in the process of applying for a portable classroom for St. Alphonsus—which the division also did last year, but other schools in the Province took precedence.
At 119 per cent, St. Michael’s is also starting to reach the limit and Zwirsky said they will be keeping an eye on that situation.
The Facilities Report also indicated all the division schools had a greater than 6.0 audit rating, which means no response is required at this time.
Not surprisingly, Sacred Heart High School and St. Michael’s School, being the newest of the division’s buildings, scored the highest audit ratings at 8.1 (out of 10).
Two schools fell into the 6.0 to 6.9 range, which according to the Province means: “Reached or exceeded forecasted lifespan. Currently in serviceable condition and functions as designed. Requires monitoring.”
Overall, the board was pleased and accepted the report unanimously.
“The overall facility ratings give me confidence we’re doing well,” Niezgoda said.
