An abnormally large influx in student enrollment in the Prairie South School Division has forced to it hire more teaching staff. 

A report during the board of education meeting last week showed that the student population was about 180 full-time equivalent students above what was projected. 

Director of Education Ryan Boughen said this is one of the largest increases the school division has ever seen. 

“Typically, we've seen very small increases in student population, a range of 20 or 40 students, or we've seen reductions in student populations,” he said. 

The funds will be used to hire nine full-time equivalent educational assistants and three full-time equivalent teachers. 

Boughen added that the funds would have to come out of the school division’s unrestricted reserve. 

“The school division has some staff contingency set aside to deal with student changes in schools and student fluctuation, and we've used all of that contingency. We've used all the teacher contingency we have and we've used all the support staff continuously we have,” he said. 

Later in the meeting, the board trustees were given a snapshot of what class sizes were looking like as of Sept. 17. 

The school division has 76 classes with over 28 students including, 26 classes at Central Collegiate, seven at Cornerstone Christian School, 26 at Peacock Collegiate, three at Palliser Heights, one at William Grayson, five at Assiniboia Composite High School and one at Caronport Elementary School. 

There were 74 classes in the school division with fewer than 10 students as of Sept. 17. This includes one at Assiniboia Composite School, three at Briercrest Academy, five at Central Butte, five at Chaplin, three at Cornerstone Christian School, three at Gravelbourg, four at Eyebrow, three at Mossbank and one at Westmount. 

Generally, the school division tries to keep a ratio of one teaching staff member for every 25 students.