The Lamont Leader (Lamont, Alberta), Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021 - 15
EIPS forced to deal with wild swings in projected enrollments BY JANA SEMENIUK Elk Island Public Schools has launched a campaign to highlight the value of public education amid declining enrolment numbers. During a special board meeting Sept 20, the drop in numbers by 49 students was discussed. “In looking at Sept 9. enrolment, we are seeing a decrease of 49 students from the spring budget (excluding Home Education and Next Step Outreach). “Experience from last year has shown there will likely be a further decrease from now to September 30,” stated information in the board package. EIPS is one of Alberta’s largest school divisions with approximately 17, 000 students in 43 schools. Candace Cole, secretary treasurer of business services, explained during the meeting why the decrease was significant. “Typically (enrollment) projections are done in the spring, and then we would chew them up on September 30,” she said. “However, because of COVID, there was a lot of uncertainty about the enrollment. Typically, we might see a swing of five students at a school. Here we saw a swing of 44 at one school and 22 at another, and then the biggest decrease was 17 students. So, 17 students times an allocation rate of $5,000 is a significant amount for a school to reduce in September.” While some schools had significant decreases, others had significant increases. Ardrossan Elementary School, for example, saw an increase of 44 students. Final enrollment numbers will not be known until Sept. 30. Meanwhile, the Education for Everyone campaign highlighting the benefits of public education began on Sept. 14. Each month, over the course of this school
year, EIPS will share the story of an individual speaking to the importance of public education and how their learning journey helped shape the trajectory of their life. The first story shared was that of Sara Canning who graduated from Bev Facey High in 2005, went on to attain a degree from Vancouver Film School and became an actress. To date Canning, 34, has racked up more than 50 film and television credits to her name including roles in The Vampire Diaries, Smallville and Nancy Drew.
Lamont Alliance Church has fun fall festival
Nine-year-old Issa Wishloff of Lamont aims her nerf rifle at some small stuffed animals on a table at the Lamont Alliance Church fall festival Sept. 11. By hitting a certain number of targets, competitors received a treat. Despite cool, fall weather, a good sized crowd attended the afternoon event.
Attendees at the Lamont Alliance Church fall festival on Sept. 11, got to play, bounce, run and jump on a large selection of inflatables. Here kids jump four to five feet onto inflatable cushions. The attraction drew a large crowd throughout the afternoon.
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