Enrolment numbers as of Sept. 30 have been released, but the board emphasized that the figures have yet to be deemed official by the Department of Education.
Total enrolment in Prince County is 6,498, down from 6,634 in September 2011.
Enrolment decreased at every school in the district but four: Summerside’s Greenfield Elementary and Three Oaks Senior High, along with O’Leary Elementary and Kinkora’s Somerset Elementary.
Early numbers for the region’s high schools recorded TOSH with 847 students, up nine from last year, and a decrease of 19 at Westisle Composite, which has 629.
Kensington Intermediate Senior High recorded 20 fewer students than last year with 382. Kinkora Regional High had dropped from 174 to 161 as of Sept. 30.
Greenfield Elementary in Summerside saw the largest increase of all western district schools. As of the end of September, 393 students were enrolled there compared to 350 one year prior, an increase of 43 students.
Summerside’s Elm Street Elementary had the biggest decline in enrolment, down 23 students to 405.
Summerside Intermediate continues to be the county’s most populous non-high school with a student body of 523.
Meanwhile, the Eastern School District’s numbers also declined slightly in September with 13,241 students enrolled, compared to 13,343 in the same month last year.
Full-time teaching positions in the western district also dropped from 524.76 in 2011-2012, to 507.95 this year.
“There have been very few new hires to teaching positions,” superintendent Jane McMillan noted in a report tabled at a Sept. 19 board meeting. “In both school boards, all probationary and permanent teachers have been placed, although some are temporary assignments.”
As of September 13 of this year, there were 292 active substitute teachers, most of whom were certified, a higher number than usual.
The Western School Board by the numbers
Following are unofficial student enrolment figures for some schools in Prince County as of Sept. 30, including change from last year’s numbers:
Elm Street Elementary
2011-2012: 438
2012-2013: 405
Change: -23
M.E. Callaghan
263
242
-21
Alberton Elementary
178
158
-20
Greenfield Elementary
350
393
+43
O’Leary Elementary
153
166
+13
TOSH
838
847
+9
Somerset Elementary
176
181
+5
Source: Western School Board
