A potential population shift in Prince Rupert has School District 52 (SD52) officials bracing for a possible increase or decrease of students attending school for the 2015-16 school year.
While official numbers of students in the district won’t be available for budgeting purposes until Sept. 30, SD52 secretary-treasurer Cam McIntyre said teachers will be expecting a lot of movement in the week leading up to the first day of school, and even in the first few weeks during classes.
“We almost always have kids that show up the first day of school who we didn’t know were coming,” said McIntyre on Monday.
“And there tends to be a lot of people even just leaving around September ... so, really the first day of school, which is Sept. 8, is where we begin to get a sense of where we’re at and then those numbers continue to change until the end of September, usually.”
During October of last year, 2,073 students were counted within the school district. Some students even switch locations over the summer with their families and come to their new school in September without notifying the district.
School officials then sort out the old school that student attended and the new one, making sure they’re not counted twice.
“[We make sure] you don’t have a kid that’s counted in two schools, or is counted in our school and then suddenly shows up in Terrace or Vancouver,” said McIntyre.
SD52 confirms the Sept. 30 numbers two weeks later and that number is the official count that the school works with until end-of-year numbers are realized closer to June.
For anyone looking to contact the school district about enrolling for this year or changing schools, elementary school offices are open Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 from 9 a.m. until noon and Prince Rupert Middle School, Charles Hays Secondary and Pacific Coast School registration dates are from Aug. 24 to Sept. 4.