Declining enrollment, education spending and class sizes were among the topics covered by Flin Flon School Division Superintendent Blaine Veitch as guest speaker at Tuesday’s Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce meeting.
Between École McIsaac School, Ruth Betts Community School, Hapnot Collegiate and Many Faces Education Centre there are now 977 students.
“That’s about 17 years of straight decline,” Veitch said, referring to the enrollment trend. “That’s been one of our challenges, to try and manage the system as you’re getting smaller.”
Though enrollment has continued to drop, Veitch said staff numbers remain similar from year to year. The division currently has 88 staff members, including 78 full-time teachers.
One-quarter of those teachers were hired before 2000. Three-quarters of the teachers have fewer than 15 years of experience, and 35 per cent have less than five years of experience.
“And we’re going to see, probably in the next five years, some remaining [more experienced] people move through the system,” Veitch told the chamber meeting, held at the Friendship Centre restaurant. “We’ll end up…with our staff with 20 years experience or less in the division.
“That comes with some exciting times because there are all kinds of ideas and energy that come with new people, but you also lose a ton of experience when someone with 40 years of teaching retires.”
The division’s longest-serving teacher is Shirley Payne, a resource teacher at McIsaac who is nearing 42 years on the job.
Ratio
In terms of pupil-to-teacher ratios, Flin Flon schools rank above the provincial average.
Flin Flon schools have a 15.9:1 pupil-to-teacher ratio compared to the provincial average of 17:1.
Taking all staff members into consideration, the ratio becomes 12.4:1 compared to the provincial average of 13.3:1.
“So we’re about one educator or teacher more than what the provincial average has. That’s something we’ve tried to maintain,” said Veitch.
The division has kept an eye on class sizes in recent years, with the largest class size currently having 25 students.
By September 2017, Manitoba schools must cap almost all kindergarten to Grade 3 classrooms at 20 or fewer students.
“And we’ve maintained that pretty well right through the system,” Veitch said. “It means our teachers have more time to spend with individual students.”
Budget
The school division’s budget stands at $13.7 million and will rise to $14.1 million this fall.
Veitch said the division spends about $13,900 per student, more than the provincial average of about $11,000 per student.
In that regard, Flin Flon schools are similar to those in Thompson and Cranberry Portage, with the exception of Frontier Collegiate.
Money for local schools comes largely from two sources: provincial funding (74 per cent) and municipal funding (23 per cent).
Funding also comes from Frontier School Division and Creighton School Division as students attend Flin Flon schools for programs like French immersion.
On the education front, Veitch said he hopes to see more interest in programming offered through the Vocational Training Centre beside Hapnot Collegiate.
The centre officially opened last fall after years of efforts to bring vocational training to the division. The 6,000-sq-ft centre offers trades training in carpentry, plumbing and electrical.
The number of students utilizing the centre is not as high as the division had hoped.
“We’re trying to find ways to have students see the value in trades,” said Veitch. “They are good-paying jobs and there are lots [of them] out there. We’re continuously trying to encourage them.”
Highlights
Other notes from Tuesday’s Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce meeting include:
• The chamber’s annual radio auction is fast approaching with a wide variety of donations already collected from the community. The auction will be based out of Flin Flon City Hall council chambers on Saturday, May 30.
• Chamber director Linda Allen congratulated the Flin Flon Arts Council and Flin Flon Community Choir on their production of Les Misérables. She said work has already begun for the council’s Contact Showcase later this fall.
• The Flin Flon Public Library will be offering free tutoring for students in June with summer student Willow Bellisle. A family story program is expected to begin on Tuesday, May 26 with Susan Lethbridge in charge.
• The Flin Flon Recycling Centre will be taking over 20 Minutes of Magic on Friday, May 22. Deb Odegaard, administrator of the centre and a chamber director, encourages groups and individuals to participate in the event to help clean up the community.
• Chamber treasurer Lois (Bunny) Burke noted that the Citizens On Patrol Program (COPP) is looking for more members and volunteers.
