UCP details education budget as school officials lament overcrowding

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Alberta Schooling rolled out extra particulars from this yr’s finances at an Airdrie highschool Wednesday, together with $1.2 billion for enrolment progress and one other $1.5 billion to help college students with particular wants and extreme studying disabilities.

However whilst faculty officers shared an appreciation for the funding, they burdened the persevering with challenges round overcrowding and the robust finances choices they’ll face within the coming yr as enrolment continues to hit historic highs.

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“We’re gathered within the studying commons of W.H. Croxford Excessive College, a busy and bustling highschool,” mentioned Fiona Gilbert, board chair for Rocky View Faculties.

“This faculty first opened 10 years in the past with simply 308 college students . . . it has grown to over 1,500 college students with a utilization of 116 per cent.”

Gilbert mentioned the overcapacity is typical of many Rocky View colleges within the quickly rising communities of Airdrie, Cochrane and Chestermere, including the information represents not simply numbers, however college students who deserve a top quality training.

“RVS, like different rising jurisdictions, wants the area and the funding to maintain tempo with the enrolment progress we’re seeing.”

Gilbert mentioned the province’s new “weighted shifting common” method, which funds faculty districts primarily based on three-year enrolment projections, has made issues particularly difficult for varsity districts which have seen unpredictably excessive progress lately.

However Schooling Minister Demetrios Nicolaides insisted this yr’s $9.3-billion finances, a 4.4 per cent improve over final yr, will tackle a lot of the province’s rising wants.

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“We’re seeing individuals from throughout Canada and all over the world making the selection to maneuver right here. However it’s additionally meant we’re seeing an increasing number of college students registering in our colleges, and we’re seeing growing complexity in our school rooms,” he mentioned.

“However I’m assured these investments will assist alleviate among the enrolment pressures on our training system, and empower faculty authorities to offer a world-class training that can set Alberta college students up for a lifetime of success.”

Nicolaides mentioned the province will present $1.5 billion to help college students with particular wants, together with a $43-million classroom complexity grant to extend assets, rent extra instructional assistants, faculty counsellors and speech language pathologists.

“With extra classroom help employees, faculty authorities shall be higher outfitted to offer extra centered consideration to college students with specialised wants.”

Nicolaides added the $1.2 billion over three years to deal with enrolment progress additionally provides faculty districts the “flexibility” to rent 3,100 new academics, instructional assistants or different school-based employees throughout the province.

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However the Alberta Academics’ Affiliation has referred to as for not less than 6,000 new academics, along with help employees, to make up for years of underfunding.

ATA president Jason Schilling has burdened that the UCP supplied flat funding for a number of years earlier than final yr, when it elevated by 5.4 per cent forward of a spring election.

And this yr, the 4.4 per cent finances hike is lower than final yr, though faculty boards are projecting one other historic yr of progress.

This week, the Calgary Board of Schooling’s capital plan forecast one other 8,000-plus college students in 2024-25, on prime of the 7,029 it acquired this yr.

Marilyn Dennis, a CBE trustee who spoke Wednesday in her further function as president of the Alberta College Boards Affiliation, mentioned that whereas she appreciates the extra funding from authorities, faculty districts throughout the province are going through a number of monetary challenges.

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“ASBA has been working carefully with our members to establish required helps to deal with historic enrolment progress, an inflow of newcomer college students and elevated monetary pressures amid inflation, rising insurance coverage prices, utilities and different operational bills,” she mentioned.

“Boards might want to make tough choices as they appear to presenting their balanced budgets to authorities in Could.”

Nicolaides added that helps to special-needs college students will embrace $6 million for Program Unit Funding (PUF), which provides helps to at-risk college students within the early grades.

However NDP training critic Amanda Chapman mentioned Albertans needn’t have fun a $6-million improve to PUF when the UCP has minimize greater than $90 million from this system over the previous a number of years.

“Regardless of how they attempt to spin it, (Premier) Danielle Smith and the UCP are massively underfunding training in Alberta and their finances has made a horrible scenario even worse,” she mentioned.

“Beneath the UCP’s watch, Alberta has sunk from being one of many prime funders of scholars to the bottom within the nation, displaying how little they really worth our kids, regardless of what they could declare.”

eferguson@postmedia.com

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