Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch hopes enrollment has flattened after Flin Flon classrooms lost just 10 students over the past year.
Newly released school division figures show the four Flin Flon schools now have a combined enrollment of 979 students, down from 989 in the fall of 2013.
“Hopefully we’ve levelled off and maybe we’ll start to see an increase with more younger people moving into our community for employment,” said Veitch.
This year’s enrollment decline is almost entirely attributable to Ruth Betts Community School, where student numbers fell by 21 down to 221.
Veitch couldn’t explain the decrease at Ruth Betts, a K-8 institution that was the only Flin Flon school to gain students last year.
“It could be just a situation this year, but we haven’t had a whole bunch of people requesting out of Ruth Betts or anything,” he said. “It’s just maybe who’s living in the catchment area this year.”
The plunge at Ruth Betts was tempered by a rise of 11 students at Many Faces Education Centre, where enrollment now sits at 72 pupils, those most in several years.
Nearby Hapnot Collegiate welcomed one additional student, bringing enrollment to 285 students, while École McIsaac School lost one pupil for a student body of 401.
Veitch said the school division forecasts about 70 to 75 children entering the school system each year, and that’s about the number that materialized this year.
The loss of 10 students this fall could carry implications for next year’s school division budget.
Based on per-student funding from the provincial government, the division could be out $83,000.
However, it’s possible that more specialized government grants will make up the shortfall.
Veitch said a loss of $83,000 would not have a major impact. The division’s total budget this year is $13.72 million.
Last year marked the first time in decades that total Flin Flon enrollment sank below 1,000 students.
Enrollment between September 2012 and September 2013 dropped from 1,030 to 989 – a difference of 41.
There was hope in recent years that the trend of shrinking enrollment had ceased given that 2012-13 saw a slight rise in students – the first in 16 years.
Over the last 21 years, enrollment has been cut nearly in half, dropping from 1,814 in 1993 to 979 today.
Prior to 2013, it is not apparent when Flin Flon enrollment had last dipped below 1,000 students, but it was most certainly prior to the 1950s. The division’s enrollment records only go back to 1980.
A few factors are at play in the plummet, most notably Flin Flon’s gradual population decline.
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 gone to Flin Flon.
Across the border, enrollment at Creighton Community School now stands at 458 students, down by four from last year.
Combined enrollment between Flin Flon and Creighton is 1,437 students.
