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Although final numbers won’t be available until the first week of October, Superintendent of Schools for School District 60, Stephen Petrucci says that as projected, enrollment is slightly up in the district.

“We projected 50 to 70 new students in the system, compared to last year,” said Petrucci and so far the projections appear to be on target.

Increases are spread throughout the district, he said with one exception. “In particular, there’s a slight uptick in enrollment at the Wonowon school.”

Part of this uptick is due to the launch of the blended Grade 7 to 9 program at Wonowon, which aims to keep students in the system with support from the Key Learning Centre, as busing young students in grades 7 to 9 has been problematic for families in the area.

“In addition to that, we’ve had some substantial enrollments come from that local community in K to 6 as well,” Petrucci said. “We’re quite excited about the increase. It’s positive for the district in terms of our finances, as well as programming.”

Contrary to rumours on social media, Petrucci said they have not seen a significant increase in enrollment at North Peace Secondary School, but the projections show there will be an increase overall “as certain bubbles of population move up towards the high school.”

“It’s not unexpected, but it’s [NPSS] definitely full.”

To meet the programming needs of the district, Petrucci said they have been quite successful in hiring new teachers for 2023-2024.

“I can definitely say we’re in a better position this year, than we were last  year,” he said. “We’re still looking for two or three full-time positions, and then a number of part-time positions, which generally get filled in different ways.”

Petrucci says it also looks like the district will have approximately 15 teachers on Letters of Permission, compared to last years’ 36 LOPs. Teachers hired on Letters of Permission (LOP) are those individuals with degrees and perhaps experience working with children, who have not yet obtained a Teaching Certificate.

Options are getting better for people who want to get certified in northern and remote regions, Petrucci added, both online and in hybrid formats. He is “quite excited about the future possibilities for more access to teacher education programs.”

“The new reality is, we will always likely require some teachers on LOP. A fewer number are required, which is a positive, but at the same time we are quite grateful for the work that they’ve done for us, and will continue to do for us in the future.”