Enderby's MV Beattie Elementary makes cuts as more students choose distance learning

Photo: Contributed

UPDATE: 12:46 p.m.

School District 83 has responded to the class reductions at MV Beattie Elementary School, stating this was an expected complication as enrollment during the pandemic era is uncertain.

"We start considering student enrollment and classroom organization charts as soon as students are in our buildings, then begin to communicate with principals if we see numbers that are concerning," says Peter Jory, Superintendent for SD83. "This year, we have had additional volatility in our enrollment, and we were forecasting surpluses in the range of 12-18 teachers, given our district budgets and typical Ministry enrollment procedures."

Each May and June, school principals set up classes for the following year to best of their ability. There is a settling process each September, even when not complicated by COVID-19, when schools figure out how many students they actually have.

Now that the settling process is over, the assessment was to drop a division and staff reduction.

"In the case of M.V. Beattie, enrollment has dropped significantly below projections so there are now more than 30 spaces, even when we count students whose parents who have indicated their interest in returning sometime during the school year," says Jory. "If we do not count those students, which would be our normal practice, the number of available seats approaches 50."

Other schools in the district facing teacher reductions this year are Shuswap Middle School and Highland Park Elementary.

ORIGINAL: 11:06 a.m.

There's no silver lining to cuts coming to Enderby's MV Beattie Elementary School next week.

Principal Gene Doray notified parents in a letter that the school is being reduced to 13 divisions.

The letter also stated that a teacher was let go as a result of these changes.

"A number of schools were also waiting to find out their fates today, and it appears that three schools have lost divisions due to a decline in enrolment," says Doray. "Although we recently enrolled a few new students, we have been losing students to home school, distance learning as well as to families relocating elsewhere."

The changes will require moving students between classes to even them out, adjusting cohorts, and reviewing the student support schedule.

"Is there a silver lining? Not really," says Doray. "Having said that, I am reminded of the 'can-do' attitude of our staff – and that helps me feel that eventually this too shall pass."

Upon learning of the news, some parents aren't entirely thrilled with the direction the school is taking.

"I feel like, at this point of a pandemic, removing a classroom, laying off a teacher and shuffling kids into different classrooms and cohorts in their second week at school isn’t right," says one concerned parent, who wished to remain anonymous.

"It contradicts the safety assurance from our B.C. health minister and Dr. Bonnie Henry, that our schools would be safe and extra funding in place to avoid measures such as this."

The changes are expected to come into effect on Sept. 22.

Castanet has reached out to School District 83 for comment.