Nanaimo-Ladysmith school trustees have approved a motion to increase the number of international elementary school students to alleviate enrolment pressure in the school district’s north end.
Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools staff are currently compiling a report on re-opening Rutherford Elementary School, and while there is growth in the area, it’s not as high as projected, said Mark Walsh, secretary-treasurer, speaking to SD68’s business committee on Wednesday, April 12. However, enrolment issues still affect Randerson Ridge and Departure Bay schools, and a motion to expand the international student program for kindergarten to Grade 7 passed unanimously.
International secondary school students tend to come for the educational experience, Walsh said, while elementary school students usually come with parents and don’t require homestay families.
The district anticipates the need to re-open Rutherford, but is deciding on whether to do so in 2024 or 2025. School operations will have an annual cost between $400-600,000, said Walsh, and if enrolment continues to grow, “it pays for itself,” but if it doesn’t, money will have to come from elsewhere. Expanding access to elementary school international education programming would allow the district to open Rutherford earlier, he said.
“We would be able to look at opening Rutherford at the earliest date and promote the program internationally and then be able to place them in the in-demand schools…” said the secretary-treasurer. “If we had 80 kids, it would more than pay for the school re-opening and then as the school becomes populated … with domestic kids, you then start giving less and less space to international students.”
Trustee Mark Robinson moved the motion, stating that it aids with the opening of Rutherford school. He has children attending Randerson Ridge and is familiar with the enrolment concerns.
“It’s come to light that there might be some financial challenges,” he said. “This addresses that … I am mindful of potential impacts in programming, long-term; however, I felt good reading the report knowing that it would be, conceivably, a temporary solution as we build up students at Rutherford.”
In order to add international elementary students, staff responsible for the program will need to work with central registration “to ensure that the needs of local students are met while [the district endeavours] to place fee-paying international students in available spaces,” according to the report. Staff are holding discussions with school districts that have incorporated notable numbers of international elementary students in the past.
RELATED: SD68 international student enrolment rises in third year of COVID-19
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