Study Abroad: Decline in Enrolment Projections But International Students at Rise. Know How?

Budget amended in 2022-2023, the total expenses and operating revenue are $158,402,439. By end of December 2022, the second quarter of the fiscal year, the district will spend exactly what we really want to spend. Following the business committee’s recommendation that is adopted, the budget will be amended from February 2022 for international students. 

Additionally, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools has amended its budget for 2022-2023. Surprisingly according to the staff members, it reflects enrolment projection is missing. 

Moreover, student enrolment was higher than the previous school year but the school district missed its enrolment projections by 131 full-time equivalent students. Additionally, it was observed that there were few students in the elementary and fewer students in Island Connect Ed. However, the Ministry of Education and Child Care granted $469,535 for funding categories of special needs. 

Though, it’s still not clear what factors would have contributed to the missed projections. It might be the impact of Covid-19 or maybe the cost of housing is playing a major role in the region. 

For a total net revenue of $626,815, the district also generated much more income than anticipated from greater than-anticipated international student enrollment, which has surpassed pre-pandemic numbers and sits at 480 students. The school system has increased early estimates from $270,000 to $1.165 million due to interest on investments as a result of rising interest rates. The additional $895,000 will be split between district operations, school-generated revenue, and the local capital fund.

There was an increase of $3.8 million in expenses, over the preliminary budget, including the addition of the prior year’s surplus and the extra staff provided to support increased student enrolment at secondary. There was an increase of full-time equivalent of 7.31 to support the additional vulnerable student learners over initial projections. 

Moreover, Vancouver Island University has also gone up. The district’s utility expenses and cost of fees for seats in enriched programming have also been increased. 

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