Local independent schools haven't seen a large rush of parents looking to enrol their children, despite the current public school teacher strike.
Cedars Christian School principal Curtis Tuininga said there has been a slight increase in parents interested in sending their children to the multi-denominational Christian school this year.
"Every year for the last three, four years we've had a lot of inquiries, staring in August. We probably have had a slight increase in inquiries recently," Tuininga said. "There probably have been, in the last week, a few more calls. But only a few turned into actual enrolments."
Enrolment at the school - which offers classes from Kindergarten to Grade 12, plus a preschool program - is actually down slightly from last year.
"We graduated our biggest class last year of 48 kids. We haven't enrolled 48 new students," he said. "We're right around 400 for this year, about 20 or so less than last year."
Tuininga said the school has a screening process for families that want to enrol their children at the school. The school's mandate requires that 90 per cent of students come from Christian families who attend church regularly.
The 10 per cent of seats available for non-religious families was already filled in May, he added.
"For this year we're only able to enrol Christians who attend church," Tuininga said. "We're always interested in families that want a Christian education."
Zion Lutheran Christian School principal John Haeussler said the small elementary school has seen a slight increase in enrolment this year.
"Up until last week, we really hadn't seen many inquiries," Haeussler said. "This week we've had a few calls as the realization that they're not going back [Tuesday] sets in, I guess. But nothing crazy."
The school currently has 27 students from Kindergarten to Grade 7.
"We have room for growth, for sure," he said. "But we're also looking for people who are looking to be here for the long term."
Haeussler said the school isn't interested in having students enrolled for the duration of the strike, then returning to the public school system once it is over.
Catholic Independent Schools Prince George superintendent of schools Chris Dugdale was unavailable for comment as of press time. The organization operates eight independent schools across northern B.C., including Immaculate Conception, St. Mary's and Sacred Heart schools in Prince George.
INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS EXPLAINED (could be sidebar)
Parents enrolling their children in independent schools in Prince George are not alone.
According to statistics reported by the Federation of Independent School Associations of B.C., enrolment at independent schools has increased steadily in the province since the 1970s. The association represents 292 of the 367 independent schools in B.C. (as of 2012-13).
In the 1977-78 school year there were 23,691 students enrolled in independent schools in B.C., representing 4.3 per cent of the total student population.
As of 2012-13, the most recent year the association reported statistics for, there were 74,051 independent school students, making up 12 per cent of all students in the province.
The provincial government currently covers a portion of the cost of enrolling a student in an independent school that is operated by a nonprofit organization like a religious group, and meets all other provincial criteria for an independent school.
Private schools operated by for-profit companies (Group 3 schools), or schools where the majority of pupils are foreign students or otherwise not eligible to attend public school for free in B.C. (Group 4 schools) do not receive government funding under the Independent Schools Act. Group 3 private schools have not received public funds since the 1992-93 school year.
The amount of funding is calculated based on the per-student funding for the public school district the independent school operates in. The government either provides 50 per cent or 35 per cent of the per student funds it provides to public school students, depending on if the independent school falls into Group 1 or Group 2.
Group 1 independent schools operate at or below the per-student funding level of the local school district. Group 2 schools operate at a higher per-student cost than the local school district.
According to a government report on independent schools, in 2013-14 the province paid $4,180 per student in a Group 1 school in the Prince George School District area and $2,926 per Group 2 student.
However, special needs students attending Group 1 and Group 2 independent schools receive the full level of special needs funding provided to public schools, ranging from $9,200 to $36,600 per year, depending on the student's classification.
According to statistics released by the Federation of Independent School Associations, Group 1 and Group 2 independent schools received a total of $216.3 million in public funding in 2011-12. A further $29 million was allocated to distributed learning students taking courses through independent school associations.
