MHPSD enjoys enrolment increases, including special categories
The Medicine Hat Public School Division received at its Tuesday board meeting a 20182019 fall budget update, which includes enrolment figures.
The division saw overall enrolment increase to 7,488 students from 7,440 last semester, and 7,418 at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year.
The enrolment number includes a six-student increase for First Nations, Métis and Inuit, a 45-student increase for ESL, a 13-student increase for French immersion, a 39-student increase for refugees and a single increase for foreign students.
The only special category that decreased was coded students, whose enrolment was 38 fewer than last year.
“The numbers aren’t necessarily that big, but the rates are quite significant,” said secretary treasurer Jerry Labosierre, who presented the update to the board.
Over the nine years studied, refugee students showed the largest cumulative increase at 2,980 per cent, because the program only started in 2014, so it had zero students for its first five years.
Otherwise, foreign students had the greatest cumulative growth to 68 from 10 in 2009, or a 580 per cent increase.
Hat High was the school greatest increase in enrolment from semester to semester, with 1,085 in fall 2018-2019, an increase of 74 students from spring 2017-2018.
Connaught School saw the largest decrease, with 46 fewer than it had in the spring.
For the 2018-2019 school year, MHPSD has $91,157,900 in revenue, 95.5 per cent of which comes from grants. Local revenues provide 2.2 per cent, while school-generated funds comprise 2.3 per cent.
Salaries were the division's largest expense, with $56,189,700 or 61.6 per cent, followed by services, supplies and contracts at 18.2 per cent, employee benefits at 15.3 per cent and debt servicing at 4.8 per cent.
Attendance policy update
Assistant superintendent Corey Sadlemeyer recommended some “minor tweaks” to the attendance policy, which decrease the prominence of the provincial attendance board.
“We’re deeming the attendance board to be an ineffective measure for the amount of time and effort,” Sadlemeyer said, adding the board is still there if necessary.
He said the board’s measures have just a 21 per cent success rate.