The official count has been made and the Southeast Cornerstone Public School Division is populated by 8,366 students who were in attendance in classrooms within the 38 schools of the school division as of Sept. 30.
“This is 58 students more than at the start of the school year last year and 110 better than when the last school year ended,” said Director of Education, Lynn Little who provided the information to the 10-member school board gathered in the conference room at the division’s head office in Weyburn on Oct. 16 for their monthly meeting.
That number was 84 above what was earlier projected as the number that could be expected, said Little.
As a result of the additional bodies in classes, some minor adjustments were made on a few fronts.
Arcola School, with a student population of 259 was 14 students above the projected figure and required some adjustments to meet the increased demand, while Weyburn Comprehensive School showed an increase of 70 over the projected figures and that called for an additional teacher to be added to the roster along with some classroom adjustments, Little said.
“Our numbers for Kindergarten enrolment were pretty accurate,” she added. “Sometimes the larger centres can be difficult to project. For instance, Estevan Comprehensive School was up 34 from the projection.”
“I also note that Redvers is up by 20,” said Jim Henderson, trustee for Subdivision 3 that includes that school.
Little said the provincial Ministry of Education will do a review of all provincial adjustments, if required, in December and added, “we’re in a better spot than we have been in other years.” This was in reference to the fact that provincial funding follows enrolment numbers and that indicates more financial support in the future for Cornerstone.
As expected, the two largest schools in the division are in Weyburn and Estevan with Weyburn Comprehensive, a refurbished school that now includes Grades 7 to 12, boasting an enrolment of 960, while Estevan’s Comprehensive School, a Grade 9 to 12 facility, now has a student population of 756.
The next largest high school on record in the southeast is McNaughton High in Moosomin with an enrolment of 345 while MacLeod Elementary School in that same centre, has a population of 300 students.
In terms of total student population in one building, Oxbow’s Prairie Horizons School, a Pre- Kindergarten to Grade 12 facility, has an enrolment of 418, making it number three in terms of overall student enrolments.
Macoun School, with a Kindergarten to Grade 8 program, has the least number of registered students with 54, followed by Wapella School, a Kindergarten to Grade 7 facility, with 57.
