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.
Flin Flon school enrollment has dropped below 1,000 students for the first time in decades, a development that could place added strain on education resources. Tentative figures released this week show combined enrollment at the four Flin Flon schools has fallen to 989, a decline of 41 from last year. Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch said it remains to be seen if, and to what degree, the latest numbers impact education funding from the province. The school division receives roughly $8,000 in provincial funding for every student, but other more specialized grants could make up any shortfall. Impact Any impact would not be felt until September 2014, as divisions are funded based on the previous year's enrollment. In providing the latest enrollment figures at Tuesday's school board meeting, Veitch said they are not quite complete but will be pretty close to the final numbers. Hardest hit is Hapnot Collegiate, which lost 24 students for a total enrollment of 284. Ecole McIsaac School, Flin Flon's largest school, lost 17 students for a total of 402. Nine fewer students are enrolled at Many Faces Education Centre, where enrollment now sits at 61. Ruth Betts Community School bucked the trend by gaining nine students for an enrollment of 242. See 'Fewer' on pg. Continued from pg. Even with enrollment going down almost every year for the past two decades, the division's budget has continued to rise. There had been hope last year that the trend of declining enrollment was over given that 2012-13 saw a slight increase in students _ the first in 16 years. Over the last 20 years, Flin Flon enrollment has been cut nearly in half, dropping from 1,814 in 1993 to 989 today. It is not apparent when Flin Flon school enrollment was last below 1,000, but it was most certainly prior to the 1950s. The school division's enrollment records only go back to 1980. A few factors are at play, most notably Flin Flon's gradual population plunge. Families also tend to have fewer children today than in decades past, and the availability of elementary, junior high and high school programming in Creighton has absorbed students who would have otherwise come to Flin Flon.
