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tuition <strong>for</strong> a five-year period on a rolling basis, so that families are not<br />
surprised, and so that everyone understands the pressures on the school. The<br />
Board has undertaken to mitigate future tuition increases while maintaining<br />
programme quality, and the only way to do that is to increase the school<br />
size. It is notable that our benchmarking puts our new tuition still significantly<br />
below the cost of comparable schools, but we would like to continue to<br />
offer very good value, and continue to provide outstanding programmes at<br />
reasonable costs, regardless of what other schools may do, or how high their<br />
tuitions may become.<br />
Some good news from this year was that we did not actually run the<br />
projected deficit, due to higher than <strong>for</strong>ecast enrolment and substantial<br />
contributions to the school through Annual Giving and the Golf Tournament.<br />
We always control our costs very tightly, and so our budget was stronger<br />
due mostly to increased revenue, although we also managed some savings<br />
in other areas. As well, we had a lower attrition this year than our average, so<br />
more students than ever came back, and our new registration has been very<br />
strong. We look <strong>for</strong>ward to next year on that basis. We will have waiting lists<br />
at a number of grades, but we do not have room to add any more classes.<br />
As well, within the PYP, the classroom space itself limits our class size to the<br />
current levels.<br />
Nonetheless, in order to keep tuition stable and predictable in future, we<br />
will need to increase our student population. As costs are spread over more<br />
students, the cost-per-pupil goes down. For example, had we not built a<br />
school expansion when we did, the tuition would have been higher at this<br />
time, since we would have been limited to about 460-470 students, and the<br />
same programme would have then cost more. Our increased revenue from<br />
the new building worked to keep our tuition lower than it would otherwise<br />
have been, even after capital costs are factored in. We intend to work hard<br />
to keep tuition reasonable, but that will mean more expansion so that we<br />
can take more students. The level that we have established at which we can<br />
get the best economies, and offer even better programmes, is about 800<br />
students from junior kindergarten to grade twelve (Diploma Programme).<br />
3. Enrolment and Expansion<br />
There are two reasons <strong>for</strong> expanding the student population. The first is so<br />
that we can offer more programmes, and boost our current programmes<br />
such as music, art, drama, athletics, and multiple course offerings. The second<br />
is to ensure that these programmes are offered at a reasonable tuition. As<br />
noted, the only reason that we did not run a deficit this year was because of<br />
growth, and that growth has also allowed us to offer more courses than we<br />
could have previously. The combination of more choice at contained costs<br />
means that we can offer greater value to families. If we do not grow, then<br />
tuition will grow more quickly than if we do grow. Expansion lowers tuition<br />
costs, as it has in the past.<br />
However, our current facility can only support one more class, and even that<br />
would be challenging. We are short of gym space as well, and need more<br />
practice areas <strong>for</strong> a variety of activities. If we build, we need to build in stages<br />
so that each is economic, and pays <strong>for</strong> itself through student growth. Any<br />
expansion will also require the approval of the Agricultural Land Commission,<br />
since the school is built on agricultural land. Currently, with the land that<br />
we have, we are capped at 600 students, so any expansion will mean<br />
acquiring more land as well. The land in Maple Ridge is relatively af<strong>for</strong>dable<br />
right now, but we do not think that it will stay that way. We know that 240th<br />
street will become busier and busier, and even now there are houses being<br />
built all around us, so more land will also serve to buffer the school from<br />
future community growth. Many schools are now surrounded by houses, or<br />
shopping centres, or other development, and have become very hemmed in,<br />
and so land purchase will help us to buffer the school, provide more space<br />
<strong>for</strong> the children and the means <strong>for</strong> school expansion in order to promote<br />
greater value. The Board is currently working on this land acquisition so as to<br />
secure the future of the school.<br />
Concurrently with acquiring more land, the Board has instructed the<br />
Administration to provide a plan <strong>for</strong> school expansion which is staged, and<br />
which provides strong cost triggers such that each stage of expansion has<br />
a strong return on investment, and so that a single generation of families<br />
does not bear the cost of any part of the expansion. That is, each stage of the<br />
expansion should pay <strong>for</strong> itself over time, and should mitigate tuition rather<br />
than increasing it. We are currently constructing such a plan, and aligning it<br />
with the strategic financial plan so that we can predict with some accuracy<br />
what the impact of each stage of expansion will be.<br />
In the end, we plan to expand our school, both in land and in facility, so as to<br />
offer better programmes at reasonable cost, both <strong>for</strong> now and <strong>for</strong> the future.<br />
Conclusion<br />
We have grown into a school which offers the best international programme<br />
available, with small classes and experienced teachers providing a closely<br />
monitored and excellent education. We need to move <strong>for</strong>ward so as to<br />
continue to offer very good value <strong>for</strong> these programmes, and that will mean<br />
that we grow our population of students. This expansion means that we need<br />
to purchase land, and build in such a way that costs are both contained and<br />
distributed across generations of students. In this way, we can provide our<br />
students with the best education possible at a reasonable cost, both now and<br />
in the future.<br />
Hugh Burke,<br />
Headmaster<br />
June 2012 Annual Report 9