Local school boards are breathing a sigh of relief following the announcement that the province will restore funding to education for the upcoming school year.
“This is a great thing in terms of operation, in terms of certainty and it's certainly a great thing for our children,” said Arlene Hrynyk, Chair of the Northern Lights School Division Board of Trustees.
She added, “Most importantly, I think we appreciate the timing of this announcement so that we can continue to develop our budgets and provide our services at a sustainable level for our children.”
For the 2015-2016 school year, the government has committed to relieving many points of contention school boards had with the PCs old budget. Under the new NDP government, school boards will receive funding for services and resources such as transportation and inclusive education.
“By funding enrolment growth and restoring funding for transportation, inclusive education, First Nations, Metis and Inuit among other areas, we are helping to ensure that school authorities can make decisions that are in the best interest of the students in their communities,” said Minister of Education David Eggen said in a press release.
The restoration of funding comes as a welcome surprise, according to Board Chair of the Lakeland Catholic School District Mary-Anne Penner.
“It alleviated some of the concerns in that we're not going to have to make cuts in some of our programs or services that we're offering to our students. We can continue to offer those (programs and services) in the coming years.”
Hrynyk added that while they're pleased with the announcement, there are still challenges within the province's education system. However, with there no longer being a reduction in funding those challenges are more manageable.
The good news for school boards didn't stop there. It was also announced that the provincial government is committed to funding enrollment growth across Alberta, something that had been taken away under the previous budget.
“We know it takes approximately 17 new students to fund a teacher, so if we were to see significant growth in the division or the 12,000 expected in the province, this takes the pressure off,” explained Hrynyk.
Penner added, “It will definitely help any of us that are experiencing student growth, it will definitely assist in that area. It's always nice when your students are funded for what they need to do.”
The cost to restore previously reduced funding, as well as fund enrollment is tagged at $103 million. Following the NDP government's announcement, Wildrose Shadow Education Minister Mark Smith released a statement saying that the party believes every child deserves a “world-class” education and it's imperative to ensure these dollars actually reach the classroom.
“We hope Minister David Eggen will soon make clear where the dollars for this funding will come from, and that we can start to focus on other important challenges our education system is facing,” Smith said in the statement.
He added, “Issues like finally proclaiming the Education Act, improving declining outcomes for students, moving away from untested instruction methods and building the classroom space our students need.”
Alberta Teachers' Association President Mark Ramsankar echoed Smith's sentiment, also calling on school boards to ensure the restored funding makes its way into classrooms.
“This new funding will have limited valye to learning if it is not allocated in a way that supports the front lines of education,” Ramsankar said in a statement. “I expect immediate revisions to school board budgets based on old data, to ensure that added educational assistant and teacher complements will be in place when schools open in September.”
Under the previous government, one of the major disagreements school boards had with the budget was the inability to use their reserve funds. Hrynyk said those concerns have now been alleviated.
“The minister spoke with us at the spring assembly of our Public School Boards Association. He emphasized local autonomy and school boards having the ability to use our reserves trying to address our challenges, as we're closest to the children. That's very promising news to here.”
The NDP government also declared that they will maintain funding to cover the two percent salary increase and one percent lump sum payment under the previously negotiated Teacher Agreement.
School boards have until June 30 to submit their 2015-2016 budgets with restored funding to Alberta Education.
