Central Okanagan schools are enrolling fewer students than expected this year – Kelowna News

Photo: FILE.

School District 23.

A Central Okanagan School District report shows public school enrollment has fallen short of expectations this year, contributing to budget shortfalls.

Each year, school districts in British Columbia receive provincial funding, based in part on the next year’s school enrollment. This year, 400 new full-time students were expected to arrive at local schools. This was a slight decline compared to the three-year average increase in student enrollment, which is 520 new full-time students per year.

However, when the final count was made, it turned out that the number of students had only increased by 169 students. Superintendent of Schools Kevin Kaardal said a survey of parents who expected their children to be in the area this school year showed they instead chose smaller British Columbia cities or other provinces.

A “small percentage” went to independent schools.

Regardless, combined with inflationary costs, this meant that when the audited financial statement was presented as of June 30, 2024, the district exceeded its budget and had to tighten its belt.

“It’s not something critical – we haven’t had to lay off staff,” Kaardal said. “We just had to adjust a few things and put some restrictions on the budget.

He added that the largest reduction was 10 percent in discretionary budgets. The district also could not allocate such large funds for local investment projects.

“The total net burden for the 2024-2025 school year will be approximately $4.4 million,” according to the report.

“Senior staff worked together to identify $4.4 million in savings. Where possible, vacant positions were left unfilled to avoid direct impact on existing positions.”