The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Nowhere has Flin Flon's declining population been more conspicuous than at the school level. Enrollment within the Flin Flon School Division has shrunk by 376 students since 1993 and is projected to go down another 248 over the next five years. That's presented the division with a challenging proposition Ñ to maintain a high level of programming with the lessened revenue that comes from a smaller student base. "The lack of money is going to be a concern," Jim Wilson, school board chairman, told a crowd gathered in the Hapnot Collegiate gymnasium on Thursday to discuss the enrollment situation. "We have to find a way of doing things differently so we spend less money," he said. About 35 people, many of them teachers or parents, attended the division's long-range planning meeting to provide input on how the division should proceed. With the crowd split into groups, their ideas ranged from the simple Ñ lobby for more provincial money Ñ to the innovative Ñ boost enrollment by offering courses that appeal to a broader population of students. Other concepts included closing a school, reducing staff as needed while maintaining the existing schools, and cutting back on extracurricular activities. One group suggested the division share resources by seeking amalgamation with the Creighton School Division, Frontier School Division based in Cranberry Portage, or Kelsey School Division in The Pas. Another recommendation was to merge Ruth Betts School with Parkdale School and move Many Faces Education Centre into Ruth Betts, presumably closing the current Many Faces location in the process. A different group felt the French Immersion program could be eliminated and replaced with Core French, a more basic form of bilingual instruction. Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch told the crowd that their ideas will be researched and given consideration by the school board. The board hopes to make decisions on the situation in December, he said. To illustrate the stark reality of the enrollment situation, Superintendent Veitch shared with the crowd a projection showing the division stands to lose nearly one-fifth of its students over the next five years. See 'Birth' P.# Con't from P.# Using birth rates from its catchment area, the division is projected to lose 248 pupils by 2009, leaving total enrollment at 1,171 students. The projection did not take into account children who may leave or move into the community. If the projection holds true and the division does not change its way of operating, Veitch said the dwindling student population will lead to about 17 teaching staff reductions by 2009. "As we decline in enrollment, we will be declining in staff," he said, adding that personnel accounts for most of the division's expenses. The superintendent said the division wants public input as it moves forward but added that the decisions the board may make will not please everyone. Both he and Chairman Wilson stressed that the trustees have no preconceived ideas as to how they might deal with the situation. Assistant Superintendent Dean Grove pointed out that school divisions across Canada have been holding meetings to deal with declining student populations.
