The Avon Maitland District School Board presented its preliminary accommodation review at this week's board meeting.
Chair Randy Wagler explains the preliminary accommodation review is something they conduct every year to determine if there is a need for a full accommodation review. Wagler says the board's last accommodation review was four years ago and their preliminary review determined there is no need for a full review this year.
Wagler adds the preliminary review also looks at enrollment trends and they were pretty much as expected. The steep declines in the elementary panel in the last few years have moderated significantly. He says they still anticipate some small declines in the elementary panel over the next five to ten years but nothing serious. Wagler says the declines that had impacted the elementary panel have now moved on to the secondary panel and that's expected to continue for the next few years but not nearly as dramatic as what they've seen in the last few years.
“This year no full accommodation review has been recommended. It also looked at the enrollment trends and the enrollment trends are really as we expected. Our elementary, for the most part, the steep decline has moderated significantly," says Wagler. “A little bit more in secondary for the next few years because the elementary decrease that we had been seeing now makes its way through secondary, but overall it's relatively stable compared to what we've seen in the last number of years.”
