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Student enrollment finally on rise
After decades of decline, there are actually 117 more kids in Delta’s public schools now than a year ago BY
SANDOR GYARMATI
sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
Enrollment in Delta’s public schools is up for the first time in a long time. The preliminary numbers for the 2015/2016 school year recently presented to the Delta board of education contained the good news that the district has
15,257 students, not including international students, enrolled in elementary and high schools. That’s up 117 from last year. Enrollment had dropped by 423 since 2010/2011, however last year the district was down by only two students. Now the numbers have moved into positive territory, something that had been projected.
Facilities superintendent Frank Geyer noted projections pegged the district’s enrollment to stop declining, level off and then slowly begin climbing. “We’re seeing that happen now, with the exception of Ladner, but we predicted that anyway. Ladner is still slipping because of the aging population there,” Geyer explained.
Ladner elementary schools are down by 36 students and Delta Secondary, which at one point had 1,600 students but has lost about 500 over the years, is also down by 36 this year. Meanwhile, the number of kids enrolled in elementary and high schools in Tsawwassen and North Delta is up. Like most school districts in
A motorcyclist is airlifted to Royal Columbian Hospital after a crash at the corner of River Road West and 46A Street in Ladner Wednesday afternoon.
B.C., Delta, which had an all-time high of 18,763 students in 1980, had been suffering from a steady decline. However, enrollment in Delta has increased significantly in special education and ESL, two areas that require more time and resources. See ENROLLMENT page 3
PHOTO BY
SHANE MACKICHAN
Off-duty officer is credited with saving crash victim’s life BY
JESSICA KERR
jkerr@delta-optimist.com
Quick actions by an off-duty Delta police officer helped save a life after a motorcycle and SUV collided in Ladner Wednesday.
The crash occurred just after 5 p.m. at River Road West and 46A Street. A/Sgt. Sarah Swallow said the motorcyclist, a 29-year-old Delta man, suffered a serious and potentially life-threating leg injury. However, an off-duty officer,
who was one of the first people on the scene, used his belt to create a tourniquet around the injured man’s leg. The man was airlifted to Royal Columbian Hospital and underwent surgery on his leg. Swallow
said the trauma surgeon credited the quick actions of the officer with saving the man’s life. The man is now in stable condition, she said. The female driver of the SUV remained at the scene and is coop-
erating with police. Swallow said the cause of the crash is still under investigation, but alcohol is not believed to be a factor. Officers had the road closed for several hours.
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