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Student growth at Calgary Board of Education ‘essentially double what we would historically get in a really strong growth year in this city of boom and bust’
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Calgary public schools are seeing a historic influx of new students — including a nearly 40 per cent increase in non-Canadians since COVID — with growing concerns next year’s totals will surpass the historic high yet again.
According to a final enrolment report presented to Calgary Board of Education trustees Tuesday, data collected at the end of September shows 7,029 students added to the system.
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At the same time, 5,955 non-Canadian students registered at the CBE’s Welcome Centre. The CBE would not say how many of those non-Canadians are among the total 7,029 new additions, explaining many leave for other jurisdictions, and include those processed to the end of October.
But newcomers are the primary contributor to the net increase in student enrolments for this year, officials said, and mean a growing number of students with complex needs, including learning English as an additional language.
“The last school year broke all previous enrolment growth records, while this school year is breaking that record once again,” said Joanne Pitman, CBE superintendent of school improvement.
Dany Breton, CBE superintendent of facilities, added, “we are truly living in exceptional times. This growth represents a 5.4 per cent increase compared to the student population at the end of September 2022.
“That’s 7,029 additional students. Wow.
“And that number, if you want to put that into perspective, is essentially double what we would historically get in a really strong growth year in this city of boom and bust.”
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After non-Canadian additions slowed during the peak of the pandemic to about 2,000, registrations for the 2021-22 school year jumped to 5,734. Then in 2022-23, that number rose again to 7,882 — a 37 per cent increase from the year before, representing “the highest annual non-Canadian student admission in the last decade,” the report said.
And with another 5,955 added by the end of October, officials expect numbers will continue to rise, with more arriving every month from wartorn regions such as Ukraine, North Africa and the Middle East.
“The resumption of global travel upon the lifting of pandemic restrictions, coupled with government pledges to increase immigration and offer growing support to refugees in the years to come, suggest that non-Canadian student registrations will continue to influence student enrolment counts in future years,” the report said.
According to the recently adopted federal immigration policy, Canada is targeting up to 500,000 immigrants every year by 2025.
Number of schools in ‘overflow’ status doubles over past two years
To accommodate the increase in refugee students with high needs, CBE added six LEAD (Literacy, English and Academic Development) classes in the past month alone — two in high schools, two in middle schools and two in elementary schools, with an unprecedented total of 38 LEAD classes now spread across 11 schools.
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But much of CBE’s growth is also due to migration from other parts of Canada, with the City of Calgary estimating our overall population at 1,389,200 as of April 1, 2023, representing an increase of about 40,600 people, or three per cent, from the year before, and the most significant expansion since 2014.
The record growth has also caused the number of schools in “overflow status” to rise significantly, meaning more schools accept students through a” lottery,” and those who don’t win but are still within the boundary are sent to other schools because their own community school is full.
According to the report, up to 25 schools are now in overflow status, representing 10 per cent of all CBE schools.
Last year, up to 21 schools had an overflow plan in place, while only 12 were in overflow status in 2021-22, meaning overflows have doubled over the past two years.
As trustees raised concerns that some families are moving into homes within walking distance of their community schools but seeing their kids forced to attend elsewhere, officials confirmed they are hearing from frustrated parents.
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“Are we communicating well enough to families that we are living in extraordinary times?” said trustee Nancy Close.
Interim superintendent of school improvement Mike Nelson said, “we are hearing from parents regarding disappointment and frustration, like the family that moves in two blocks from their school but then can’t attend that school.
“And it adds more work for our administrators because they are taking the time to explain why.”
Earlier this month, the UCP government announced an additional $30 million to school districts experiencing historically high enrolment. But CBE officials still have not said how much of that funding Calgary’s public schools will receive.
Alberta Education has also said substantial investments have been made to support refugee students, increasing overall funding by 5.2 per cent as well as providing additional grants for newcomers.
Budget 2023 also invested $1.5 billion in learning supports for special-needs kids, including funding for the Refugee Student Grant, English as an Additional Language and the Specialized Learning Support Grant.
eferguson@postmedia.com
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