School boards across the province are not ready to raise a white flag just yet, but have instead decided to continue to fight a budget that they say will hurt students in the province.
During their board of trustees meeting on April 22, Northern Lights School Division trustees voted in favour of sending a letter to the premier and cabinet ministers outlining their concerns with the 2015 provincial budget.
“One of the biggest concerns for us is the reduction in funding, 3.1 percent. There's a reduction to the special education portion, which is inclusive education, to our FNMI (First Nations, Metis and Inuit) population and in some of our larger centres (a reduction to) the ELL (English Language Learning) funding, so that means your support pieces,” said board chair Arlene Hrynyk.
With the drop of the province's 2015 budget, also came the announcement that school boards across Alberta will have to further tighten their purse strings. The budget included a 3.1 percent decrease in government grants, which means for NLSD they will see a decrease in about 40 percent of what they currently have funded through grants.
There was also the announcement that school boards will no longer be allowed to spend reserves without formal approval from the minister, a restriction that Hrynyk said is a point of contention for not just NLSD but all school boards across the province.
“Boards squirrel away a couple of peanuts annually for things we don't receive funding for. There's a perception that those are surpluses but they're not. We save pennies to make the dollars for the rainy days that come. We can handle tough budgets but this is beyond that.”
Hrynyk said this rule is unprecedented in the province of Alberta. All trustees agreed that it takes away from the mandate of having a locally elected board who works closely with the schools to decide what is best for the students and staff.
“The autonomy is eroded, the funds are going to be diverted elsewhere. Now it's not what we plan, it's what a supreme superior is planning for us,” said trustee Nestor Kunec.
One of the projects that could be on the line due is the division's inclusive education program. After planning for three years, Hrynyk said it's no longer in their hands whether or not the project gets put in place this year.
“That's been three years of planning where we looked internally to see what we needed and the staff actually appraised the board last year. The dollars for that, we put into our accumulated operating surplus because they were to be spent this year to role out our plan,” explained Hrynyk.
She added, “Our system put a very thoughtful process in place to ensure that those dollars were going to meet the needs of the system. Now we have no guarantee that we can actually use that plan to support the most vulnerable in the system.”
In addition to concerns around the restrictions on the use of surplus or reserve funds, the province also announced that they would not be funding enrollment growth for schools. Secretary-Treasurer Paula Elock said even though NLSD is not forecasting enrollment growth for next year the concerns go beyond that.
“If students are in one division and they even move to another division, that movement will not be funded. It's not just new enrollment that's not being funded,” Elock noted.
According to Hrynyk, it takes 17 students to fund one professional staff member. If NLSD schools see either new enrollment growth or transfers from other divisions those students will be absorbed into the system, which would mean an increase in class sizes, as there would be no funds for new teachers.
In following suit with other members of the Alberta School Board Association, NLSD trustees voted to send letters to Premier Jim Prentice, Education Minister Gordon Dirks and all other sitting cabinet ministers. They also discussed the need for public awareness, as well as educating provincial candidates about the issues facing the local school board.
“We are hoping whoever forms government will listen to school boards who are closest to the children and the community and ensure that the children are not impacted by the decision of budget allocations,” expressed Hrynyk.
She added that the concerns they are bringing forward are not just for this year, but for future years as well if budget reductions and spending restrictions continue.
“We have been told that year two and three will be far worse for school boards…if this is what we can expect on an ongoing basis, public education is definitely at risk in this province, services to our children are at risk.”
