The number of students attending schools in Whistler is slowly declining, according to School District 48 (SD48) data, offsetting increases in Pemberton and Squamish.
Together, Squamish and Pemberton area schools added an extra 76 students from 2021 to 2023, while Whistler lost 96, according to a presentation to the district board on Oct. 11 by assistant superintendent Paul Lorette.
Squamish has been consistent in its student number growth, with numbers up every year for the last few years: 2023 saw 3,277 students enrolled compared to 2016's 2,852.
Whistler's numbers have been fluctuating for the same period — in 2023, there are 1,081 students enrolled at its schools — a drop from last year's 1,112, and the high of 2021's 1,177, but above the number enrolled in 2016, when there were 1,038 registered in Whistler.
The decline in Whistler enrolments is not focused on one school, with minor declines among all three.
The decline in student enrolments in Whistler goes against Statistics Canada's trends for the community. While the most recent census data is now two years old, the data showed an upward trend.
Whistler saw a large increase in overall population between 2016 and 2021, with data from Statistics Canada showing a 19% jump in the community's population, from 11,854 in 2016 to 13,982 in 2021.
The population of school-age residents (between 5 and 19 years) increased in turn, from 1,470 in 2016 to 1,755 in 2021.
Despite the declines in Whistler enrolment numbers, student enrolment numbers across SD48 are above estimates for the 2023-24 school year, but remain down from a high in the 2021-22 year.
According to the report by Lorette, the district had 5,296 full-time equivalent (FTE) students as of Sept. 29, 2023 - 95 FTE students over projections for the 2023-24 school year made in the district's spring budget, which Lorette said had been conservative.
The district had expected FTE student numbers to drop for a second year running, from 5,270 in 2022-23 to 5,201 this year, but instead saw an increase of 26. enrolments had previously dropped from a high of 5,313 in the 2021-22 school year.
The FTE numbers include both resident students (of which there are 5,100), and distance learning (DL) students. Full-time equivalent numbers are higher than the total headcount of students due to some students taking more than the required workload.
Resident student numbers across the district have seen minor declines, but Lorette said that "[it is] not a dramatic decrease by any means.
"However, we do anticipate over time that this may continue to decline as our incoming kindergarten classes tend to be a little smaller than they have been in the past."
Neither Lorette nor an SD48 representative shared any thoughts on why the decline was taking place.
The increase in FTE enrolments means that the district has netted an extra $819,375 in ministry funding (calculated at $8,625 per student).
According to the district, this new funding will be immediately offset by additional expenses, such as a 12% increase in the standard full-time equivalent cost of teachers, to $119,453, which itself is made up of projected salaries at $94,725 and additional benefits.
