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School district sees increase in enrolment

Additional students add up to six new divisions and $1.8 million in Nanaimo-Ladysmith this year
71828ladysmithLadysmithSecondarySchool
Ladysmith Secondary School.

Tamara CunninghamBlack Press

Student enrolment has stopped declining and is edging up, says Nanaimo school district superintendent John Blain.

Regular student enrolment is higher than expected this year, according to a district report that shows as of Sept. 30, there were 13,184 students enrolled. The district had projected 12,912.

With enrolment in other areas, such as special education, the increase amounts to $1.8 million in additional funding for the district. Blain said a lot of that money has already been spent because the district had to put in six new divisions in the elementary system to house the students.

He also said the district has predicted an increase in students for awhile and it’s now at a point where more students are coming into the system than leaving.

“The decline in enrolment, as predicted, has begun to stop here,” he said.

“We are not back to where we were by any means. We were at 17,000 [students]years ago and now we are at [13,000], but we have stopped the decline and we are now edging up which is very positive for us.”

The numbers are still considered preliminary. Blain expects a further breakdown will be released to the public by the first of November including enrolment by school.

 





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