CBE reports first decrease in enrolment in more than a decade amid pandemic

The Calgary Board of Education says more than 3,100 students expected in classrooms (online or in-person) this school year did not enrol amid the pandemic.

The school district said this is its first decrease in student enrolment in 12 years, and the largest decrease since 1980.

In a report presented to the board of trustees Tuesday, the CBE said its kindergarten programs were hit hardest.

"The half-day programs experienced a 24 per cent drop in comparison to last school year, while the full-day programs … experienced a drop of 29 per cent," said the superintendent of facilities, Dany Breton.

The school board said it makes sense to see the biggest reduction in kindergarten enrolment because it is not mandatory for children in Alberta. 

Trustee Julie Hrdlicka said she was concerned that 700 students from unique settings, outreach programs and Chinook Learning did not enrol with the board this year. 

"That's a big number of students and those are vulnerable students," she said. "I have heard from parents and even staff that they're working on this to find out where those students are. And I'm just really thankful and grateful because those students need us and we need them, and that's a big number of students."

The CBE said it is also seeing less returning Grade 12 students this school year compared with years past.

Breton said that may have something to do with the fact that diploma exams were made optional this year. 

"Not only do you not have those students returning for that fourth year, but it also impacts students who might be normally choosing to attend outreach or Chinook Learning Services because they want to improve their marks," he said. "Now they don't necessarily have that opportunity. As a result, they're waiting this out before coming back to that as a possibility sometime in the future."

Superintendent of finance for the CBE said this unexpected drop in enrolment could potentially impact funding in the coming years. 

"The magnitude of that will be a little bit influenced by what the actual enrolment will ultimately be in 2021-2022," said Brad Grundy. "We absolutely expect there will be a negative, or a reduction, in the amount of funding next year based on this reduction in enrolment this year."

Through the province's new funding model, a school district's provincial dollar amount is now determined by a weighted moving average of three years of enrolment numbers. 

"That decline that we see between our projection and actual student enrolment is what will be used to calculate the funding that will come our way for the 2021-22 school year as well," said Grundy, who is the district's chief financial officer.

"The way the framework is set out, we could be on the hook to settle up with government for the amount by which our projection exceeded actuals."

Grundy said, however, that because of the the ongoing pandemic, there are conversation going on within the public education realm around how the weighted moving average mechanism will work in the face of unanticipated enrolment declines across the system. 

CBC News reported earlier in December that Alberta school boards are seeking changes to the funding model in light of the impact COVID-19 has had on enrolment. 

At the time, Alberta Education said it would review that request.

"[We are] sensitive to the unique situation caused by the pandemic this year," wrote acting press secretary Nicole Sparrow.

"That is why we gave school authorities more time to provide their enrolment data to the province, and we remain committed to ensuring schools are not penalized for enrolment that may have been affected by a pandemic that is completely out of their control."

Meanwhile, the district reported enrolment in its home education programs has more than doubled, with enrolment going from 209 last year to 422 this year. CBE Learn has also seen an increase of 15 per cent this school year, with enrolment increasing from 541 last school year to 619 this year.