By Troy Gillard

Economy & COVID-19 cited as factors

Enrolment down 1% at Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools

Oct 5, 2020 | 11:09 AM

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools says its official enrolment for the 2020-2021 school year stands at 10,364 students as of September 30, marking a one per cent drop from the previous school year (10,455 students).

District officials say this includes the at-home learning program, where learning cohorts are led by teachers from our schools, which has 1114 students, and its Traditional Home Education Program, where the parent/guardian is the teacher, which has 1095 students.

Acting Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Finnigan attributes the one per cent drop in enrolment to COVID-19 and the current economic climate, but she says the quality of education provided by Red Deer Catholic will remain the same.

“Currently, we are focusing on identifying the progression of student learning and the creation of supportive systems, as well as enhanced health/safety measures in our schools,” Finnigan said.

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools currently employs approximately 571 teachers and 416 support staff including administration, transportation, and maintenance.

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The district secured two new modular classrooms for both École Our Lady of the Rosary School in Sylvan Lake and St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School in Red Deer, which is currently over capacity. Planning continues for the building of St. Lorenzo Ruiz Middle School in Red Deer’s Kentwood neighbourhood.

At Wolf Creek Public Schools, WCPS had projected 7,546 students for the 2020-21 school year, which includes ECS, grades 1 to 12 and First Nations students. The actual enrolment as of September 30 is 7,000 students.

District officials say those actuals include 317 students enrolled in Wolf Creek’s Virtual Learning Program (WCVLP). The WCVLP enrolls students in their local Wolf Creek school and is set up to accommodate a transition back to in-class learning at any point in the school year.

The difference in projected enrollment and actual enrollment is expected to have an impact on funding, as Alberta Education established a three-year Weighted Moving Average for school funding, where 50 per cent of the funding is based on projected enrollment for the 2020-2021 school year.

The actual enrolment numbers for 2020-2021 and that funding impact will be reviewed by WCPS Board at its general meeting this month.

In the Wild Rose School Division, 4,424 students are enrolled this year. This is 337 less students than projected.

Of the 4,424 students, 353 are enrolled in the District’s at-home learning program.

“Central Alberta has been hit hard by the economic downturn and as such we are seeing many families choosing to leave our communities,” noted Superintendent Brad Volkman.

At Clearview Public Schools, 2,324 students have registered as of Sept. 30 – a decrease of 51 students from last year and down 66 from earlier projections.

Peter Neale, Associate Superintendent, Business and Finance, says roughly half were due to moving out of their local communities, while the other half were from families selecting a homeschooling option outside of Clearview.

He adds that out of those registered, 118 are selecting at-home learning, while 15 have selected a homeschool program.

“Many families are choosing in-school learning as their first choice,” says Neale. “After the first month, the superintendent provided the opening enrolment counts for all schools. In considering the data, many families are trusting in the work being done to ensure schools are safe for learning in the COVID-19 environment, with only 133 students (out of 2,324) participating in at-home learning (118 students) and the homeschool program (15 students).”

“This reflects a successful outcome of the planning and communications done during August with our Clearview families and staff,” notes Neale.

Red Deer Public Schools is reporting a decrease in student enrolment of about four per cent for the 2020-21 school year (426 students).