Nechako defies enrolment trend
Cariboo Press - Kitimat Northern Sentinel
October 29, 2008
By: Cameron Orr

Coast Mountain school district enrolment continued to slip with the new school year - and Kitimat accounted for more than half the drop.

As of September 30 the district had 5,083 students, down 147 students over last year. On the plus side, the district had expected it to be even lower than that by 36 students.

Enrolment in Kitimat was down by 85 kids with Mount Elizabeth Secondary accounting for about three quarters of that.

Coast Mountains director of instruction Brent Speidel said MESS' numbers dropped "significantly" - from 683 a year ago to 622.

And, unless there is a big influx of new students here, MESS is going to keep shrinking.

….Enrolment also continued to fall in the elementary schools, with the exception of Nechako….

Rather, it was the fact Nechako now offers before-school and after-school daycare - he speculated that some of the kids may have already lived in the Nechako neighbourhood, but went to Roy Wilcox by choice until the day care programs were offered….