Enrolment surge continues in Moncton-area schools even as new buildings open
Anglophone East adding 26 portable classrooms, Francophone South says more schools needed
Two southeast New Brunswick school districts say they're continuing to see significant enrolment growth that's putting pressure on capacity even as new schools open.
Thousands of new students have enrolled in recent years in the anglophone and francophone districts serving the Moncton area.
Statistics Canada reported recently the region had one of Canada's fastest-growing populations, mainly driven by international migration.
It's led to students being taught in spaces such as libraries, cafeterias and portable classrooms.
"We really, really need to have new schools built," Monique Boudreau, superintendent of Francophone South, said in an interview.
"They're not built in a year. We can't have the parking lots full of mobile classrooms like we had at École Le Sommet and five or six of our different schools."
Francophone South, which includes Fredericton and Saint John, has about 17,500 students enrolled in its 38 schools. That's up 530 from last year, a figure Boudreau expects will rise to about 800 in the coming weeks.
Around 60 per cent of the growth is in the Moncton region, Boudreau said.
Randolph MacLean, Anglophone East's superintendent, says enrolment has topped 20,100, up about 900 from last year.
"Enrolment it continues to climb," MacLean said. "It's very, very exciting."
The district requested 26 more portable classrooms from the province, bringing its total to 85. Some of those portable classrooms are already in place, while others will be added over the coming months.
If all goes to plan, a new middle school in Moncton's west end opens its doors Tuesday. The Wabanaki School has a capacity of 783 students, and MacLean said 730 students are enrolled there.
The opening is expected to ease capacity pressure in several schools around the city that had converted non-teaching spaces to classrooms.
One downtown school, Edith Cavell, will once again have a library. Northrop Frye's cafeteria is once again a cafeteria.
The district has requested the province build or upgrade nine schools. Planning is underway for new or larger schools in Shediac, Dieppe and Salisbury.
While the Anglophone East district education council was told in February that the Shediac site was expected to be announced soon, MacLean said the province is still working on that.
He said it should affect the construction schedule. The education council was told in February that construction would start in 2025-26, with the school open in 2027. The council was told the school offering kindergarten to Grade 12 could have a capacity of 1,000 students.
Even when new schools open, they've quickly filled.
The newly completed Le Mascaret and Claudette-Bradshaw schools in Moncton are already full, Boudreau said.
More students also means more teachers, bus drivers and other support staff.
Boudreau said Francophone South still had a few teaching positions it needed to fill as of last week but was in a better position this year compared to last year.
MacLean said Anglophone East has added about 300 teachers over the last three years.
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