Secondary school enrolment down 3% across region

By Mike Renzella

The Haldimand Press

HALDIMAND—Enrolment at secondary schools across the region is down according to a recent report submitted during the Committee of the Whole meeting for the Grand Erie District School Board on January 13, 2020.

The report, submitted by Rafal Wyszynski, superintendent of businesses and treasurer for the board, compared data compiled up to October 31, 2019 and compared it to similar data collected at the end of 2018. The main focus of the report was to highlight the amount of unused space in local schools. The report found several area schools operating far under capacity. Those include Cayuga Secondary School at 53%, Dunnville Secondary School at 36%, Hagersville Secondary School at 49%, Simcoe Composite School at 58%, and Waterford District High School at 58% as well. In total, enrolment across the board was down by 3% between 2018 and 2019. The report shows a drop from 69 to 66% of the total capacity across the Grand Erie Board’s 13 high schools. In raw numbers, there were 248 less students enrolled, with total enrolment at the end of 2019 sitting at 7,885 students.