You may have noticed new high-density developments around Kelowna advertising three-bedroom unit options.
Central Okanagan Public Schools certainly has, as the potential for more families to move into condo or townhouse developments in search of affordable housing will impact school enrolment numbers.
While the City of Kelowna has encouraged developers to widen the scope of potential buyers as single-family home prices continue to move north of $1 million, the school district is left to project the impact of that housing characteristic change for families.
The affordable housing issue arose during a discussion at Wednesday’s finance and audit committee about school superintendent Kevin Kaardal’s final recommendations for addressing a $1.9 million funding shortfall in the 2024-25 budget.
The committee has endorsed a recommendation to the board of education to adopt the budget, with internal cost efficiencies coupled with potential further Classroom Enhancement Fund funding to alleviate the budget pressure, without any significant impact on students’ services.
The housing issue came up when trustee Wayne Broughton, chair of the finance and audit committee, noted a slight drop in enrolment at Ecole H.S. Grenda Middle School in Lake Country.
Kaardal said the downward enrolment trend is being reflected across the Okanagan, citing several factors being responsible for that and why Kelowna is trending in a different direction.
In Penticton and Summerland, the local district school board ratified a plan this week to scrap the elementary, middle and secondary school model for a straight elementary-secondary split, while closing three elementary schools.
According to the school district, enrolment at local schools stands at 5,741 students, a decrease of 36 per cent since 2001. Penticton schools are 82 per cent at capacity, while Summerland schools are at 69 per cent capacity.
In comparison, several schools in the Central Okanagan School District are beyond 100 per cent capacity, with enrolment projected to increase again next fall.
Kaardal said the in-migration of families from Alberta or other provinces has fallen off, as movement has swung in the opposite directions, as more families are trending a movement from B.C. to Alberta.
The potential numbers impact of immigration families to the Central Okanagan as immigration levels are raised by the federal government remains a wildcard.
“The one difference between Kelowna and other communities around us is the availability of higher-density housing. Because of that, you are not likely to see the slowdown in Kelowna that you are beginning to see in more rural areas,” Kaardal said.
READ MORE: Kelowna first in B.C. to test drive new OnDemand transit