Only 9% of SD57’s 10th graders do not feel stressed or anxious at school

It was a shocking statistic from a district-wide poll revealed at last night’s (Tuesday) School District 57 board meeting.

Students in grades 4, 7, and 10 across the province were all surveyed, and some key results were shown to the board by Superintendent Cindy Heitman.

The most jarring result returned was that, of all 10th grade students across SD57, only 9% responded that school does not make them feel stressed or anxious.

When asked the same question, only 25% of 7th grade students said they do not feel stressed or anxious – though a higher percentage did respond with “neutral” instead of “negative.”

“We talk about kids needing to learn to deal with their mental health, how to get supports and understand,” Heitman said, pointing at the other two bars that are heavily in the red – “I am satisfied that in school I learn how to express my emotions and deal with emotions,” and “At school, I am learning how to care for my mental health.”

“I don’t think, for the educators in the room, this comes as a surprise,” she said. “We had a hunch, the kids have now told us.”

Heitman said adjustments will be made to address this.

Some other notable stats from her Superintendent’s report include:

• Graduation rates in the district are at all time highs, but are still trailing or are at the low end of the provincial average
• Since 2014, the district’s Indigenous graduation rate has gone up over 20%
• In 2021/22, 94% of students in grade 11 carried over to grade 12 – including 93% of Indigenous students, 90% of students with disabilities, and 83% of students in care.
• The passing rates for the provincial literacy and numeracy tests have gone up, though they too trail behind the provincial average
• 74% of 4th grade students said they feel welcome at their schools
• 65% of the same age group think many adults in their schools care about them, with the majority of the other responses being “I don’t know”.
• 64% of grade 4 students said they feel good about themselves

There were some other items brought up at the meeting.

Starting in 2023/24, students will need 4 credits (1 high school class’ worth) in an approved Indigenous studies course as a graduation requirement. This vote passed unanimously.

Starting this year, students in grade 8 and 9 will no longer receive letter grades on their report cards.

They will be replaced by the 1-4 proficiency scale system currently used in early elementary grades.

“It tells you where your learner is with that specific skill, and what their next steps will be to get to the next level of proficiency,” Heitman.

Last night’s meeting also had some spirited conversation surrounding anti-LGBTQ comments made to the board in the December meeting.

The next school board meeting will be Tuesday, February 28th.