Could the long-running drop in enrolment in School District 5 be coming to an end?

This intriguing possibility was raised at the board meeting Tuesday in District 5 Superintendent?s Bill Gook?s monthly report which contains the latest enrolment figures.

As of September 14, 2010, the District numbers 5,101 full time equivalent (FTE), only 66 fewer than the 5,167 FTE?s enrolled in the District at the same time in September 2009.

However the final numbers won?t be in until the end of the month because many Grade 12?s haven?t been counted yet as FTE?s because they are still sorting their timetables out. When they are counted at the end of the month, the 66-student gap between Sept. 2010 and Sept. 2009 may be largely gone, Gook told the Board.

?We hope this is a trend because if it is it will be very promising,? he said.

However, in an interview after the Board meeting, Gook said the preliminary numbers have to be approached with caution because the 200 students enrolled in all-day kindergarten this year are now counted as one FTE each instead of a half FTE as they were before.

?Based on our numbers, I?d have to say it looks like we may really have started to slow the decline but the number of Grade 12 kids leaving still far exceed the number of kindergarten students coming in.? But the gap between the Grade 12 grads leaving and the kindergarten students coming in is closing, Gook said.

District 5 Board Chairman Frank Lento said he also sees some reason for optimism in the enrolment numbers this year. ?It might be a little premature to say the decline is over yet but at least we?re not down significantly this year and that?s encouraging.?

Both Lento and Gook said prosperity has returned to the coal mines in the Elk Valley and this is boosting enrolment in schools like Isabella Dicken Elementary in Fernie which is up 41 students this fall and Elkford Elementary up 32.

Enrolment is also up in some Cranbrook schools too, including Amy Woodland Elementary up 28 and Gordon Terrace up 21. But some schools are still suffering enrolment declines such as Mt. Baker Secondary down 52 and Fernie Secondary down 18. However these numbers are expected to increase at the end of the month when secondary students get their time tables sorted out.

On a province-wide basis, Kindergarten to Grade 12 enrolment is down approximately 60,000 in the past decade but no numbers have been finalized yet comparing this year?s enrolment figure with enrolment in 2009.

Preliminary results show 544,223 students registered in the province so far this school year, including 57,756 English as a second language (ESL) students, a drop of 41 ESL students compared to the 2009 – 2010 school year.