Increased enrolment boosts North Shore school districts' bottom line

Over 400 more students who enrolled in North Vancouver schools this year plus a greater-than-expected number of international students have given a welcome boost to the North Vancouver school district’s bottom line.

But that good news was tempered by increased costs of managing a second school year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with less money from federal and provincial governments than was previously available.

Staffing costs and costs of covering teacher sick time were also up.

The revised numbers come as both North Shore school districts passed amended budget bylaws this month for the 2021-'22 school year.

Each year, school districts must pass preliminary budgets based on expected enrolment by the end of June. But once the actual figures are known, school districts must amend their budgets by the end of the following February.

Enrolment up by over 400 students in North Van schools

In North Vancouver, 437 more students enrolled in the school district this year than was expected, bringing total enrolment to 15,739 students. The extra students boosted the operating grant from the province by about $3 million. The school district also had 500 international students register this year – up from the 375 students anticipated. That boosted revenues by about $2 million – from about $6 million to approximately $8 million.

On the other side of the ledger, revenues from academy programs were down by about $100,000, partly because some programs were more difficult for students to fit into a semester timetable. Low interest rates also shaved about $100,000 off the bottom line.

Increased costs for sick time

Staffing costs were up, which included over $740,000 for additional sick time coverage for teachers, plus funding for more student support aides. The school district also spent over $1 million on additional costs related to COVID-19, while receiving about $680,000 from senior governments towards those costs.

The school district is also pending $1.3 million this year on work to repair the environmental learning centre at its Cheakamus outdoor learning centre near Squamish.

School district to spend over $1 million on Cheakamus repairs

The school district is expecting work to continue there until the end of 2022. “So we won't be back up to full services up there until the latter half of next school year,” Kristen Watson, director of financial services, told trustees.

Work is being done to repair significant problems with construction on the environmental learning centre that was completed almost a decade again at a cost of almost $5.8 million.

The school district filed a lawsuit in March 2021 against several companies that worked on the project, alleging shoddy building practices had resulted in “significant water ingress” that left parts of the building structurally unstable.

West Van enrolment also up

In the West Vancouver School District, a smaller increase in enrolment of 120 students also resulted in operating grant increase of about $1.4 million for this school year.

A greater-than-anticipated number of international students in West Vancouver also boosted revenues by over $900,000 to approximately $8 million.

Costs for covering sick time are also up this year, along with expenses for more supervision aides, janitorial time and supplies that aren’t being funded by senior governments.

Computer upgrades planned

The West Vancouver School District also plans to spend $1.4 million this year on an IT infrastructure upgrade. North Vancouver also plans to spend approximately $700,000 on new computer hardware.