The Pine Creek school division saw a large increase in enrolment this fall for the first time in recent history.

Superintendent Bruce Lyons says the final numbers are in and they have 1,053 students in the division.

Lyons notes it's going to be a very challenging year because funding is based on enrolment numbers from last year, when they had less than a thousand students enrolled.

He says since the government of Manitoba announced a two percent cutback in overall provincial funding, this has become pretty significant for them as they haven't seen a funding increase in revenues for the last five years and now they've experienced this jump in their enrolment.

Lyons notes it means they're going to be facing a bit of a budget crunch this time around. He adds the biggest part of funding deals with staffing, as you can't really have an education program without qualified teachers in place.

Lyons says if it gets to the point where their funding doesn't allow them to staff the way they want, down the road it could end in changes to their staffing numbers.

He notes there's a chance their enrolment could increase even more because Gladstone Elementary school is already full to capacity and they're projecting that the numbers in that facility could go higher.

Lyons says their board is very much in tune with what's needed in the division, adding they're going to be in budget talks next month and some big decisions will have to be made.