Director of Education for Horizon School Division, Kevin Garinger, is proud of the work that continues to go on in Horizon School Division.
Garinger reported a small snapshot of the work being done in Horizon with his Annual Report at the Meeting of Electors on March 14 at the Horizon office.
Literacy and graduations rates were the main focus of Garinger’s report, as well as the financial state of Horizon School Division.
Literacy rates among grade 3 students within Horizon show that 75 per cent of students overall are reading at or above grade level. This is down slightly from 77 per cent reported in the previous year.
The current literacy average is five per cent short of the provincial goal for reading levels in 2020.
The drop does not reflect the hard work going into education and Garinger says that they are continuing to see improvements in student data because of a strong effort from staff and teachers.
Garinger reported that Horizon continues to have the fourth highest teacher to student ratio compared to other school divisions.
On time graduation rates, meaning students who graduate within three years of starting grade 10 have remained at 84 per cent of total students from 2015-2016 to 2016-2017. This is a drop from the 2008-2009 percentage of 88 per cent of total students.
Graduation rates among First Nation, Metis, and Inuit/Inuk (FNMI) students are on a decline with 32 per cent of FNMI students completing grade 12 on time.
Those are lagging indicators, says Garinger, since the work put into education will show in future numbers.
“You don’t just change things and everything improves. It takes time to make those improvements and sometimes we have what is referred to an implementation dip, where things drop before they get better.”
While three year graduation rates have dipped, five year graduation rates have improved by 12 per cent over the 2008-2009 numbers, says Garinger.
Albeit students may be taking a bit longer, they are still graduating, he says, which is still important to recognize.
“As opposed to being 11 per cent below the provincial average, we’re five per cent and we’re on a trajectory that is very positive.”
Financially, Horizon did see an improvement on their budgeted to actual finances for 2017 with a $1.36 million variance in the actual deficit.
This past year was planned to be a deficit year of $2.56 million with the actual budget coming in at a $1.20 million deficit.
The main reason for the variance is the increase in revenue of $816,178 overall for the 2017 revenue and a $544,608 underage on the 2017 expenses.
More specifically, reports Garinger, Horizon saw an increase of $722,853 in property tax revenue over what was originally budgeted for which had an impact.
