New education funding model to take effect in 2020-21 school year

“We are looking forward to working with the government as this model rolls out for the 2020-21 school year.”

School divisions currently get their funding through 36 different grants, but the new format will see only 15 grants given out. The government says there will be no cuts, and that the money is simply being reallocated into specific groups to cut red tape and be more efficient.

The change comes into effect in the 2020-21 school year, with the grants falling into certain groups.

Basic Instruction:

Kindergarten
Grades 1-9
High School
Rural Schools

Services and Supports:

Specialized Learning Support
Program Unit Funding (PUF)
English as a Second Language/French as a Second Language (ESL/FSL)
Refugee
First Nations, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI)

School:

Operations & Maintenance
Transportation

Community:

Socioeconomic Status
Geographic
Nutrition

Jurisdiction:

System Administration

The government says of those ‘envelopes,’ only money from administration can be taken out and used elsewhere, and no other funding can be redistributed to serve other purposes.

LaGrange says though there are less grants for school divisions, funding will remain the same.

“It is just a reallocation, re-looking at, reformatting if I may say, of the way education is being dispersed currently. So, the dollar will, under these new 15 grants, will actually reach every single school board, and they will have that opportunity to have that flexibility to target those dollars in those pocket areas.”

She says that the bottom line is that there will be no cuts, and in fact many schools will have an increase. LaGrange also adds that they will be working to maintain their budget of $8.22-billion for education.

Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act by the Alberta Teachers’ Association last week shows there were discrepancies in the last budget, released in October 2019. In the budget, the Class Size Grants, the Classroom Improvement Fund, and the School Fees Reduction Grant, were all ‘re-purposed,’ which equaled out to a $136-million loss to education funding province-wide, despite there being a One-Time Transition Grant given to each School Division. However, LaGrange argues there were no cuts.

“There were no funding cuts last year, there were three grants that were re-purposed to fund enrolment growth, and that’s what we did with those particular grants.”

“In this new funding model, every single school will see an increase to their bottom line. And, without getting into specific details which I can certainly get into next week after budget, and would be happy to at that point in time, we are maintaining the overall budget at $8.223-billion, and we are absolutely ensuring that every school division is funded appropriately.”

Along with changing the grant formula, the government is changing the way high-school students are funded. Students taking a full class load will be fully funded, while those taking just a few courses, or upgrading their education, will only be partially funded. The government says the fourth and fifth years are likely not taking a full class load, and shouldn’t require full funding.

The new model will also see a change in the student count system. Rather than doing a yearly count, funding will be given out based on a three-year average. The new ‘Weighted Moving Average’ will look at 20 per cent of the actual funded enrolment count from the previous year, 30 per cent of estimated enrolment of the current year, and a 50 per cent projection of the coming year. Through this system, school divisions will see either an increase, or a decrease (see diagram below).

Weighted Moving Average Enrolment example (Ministry of Education)

The averages will be compiled in April, allowing school divisions to figure out the average and determine their funding well in advance of the next school year.

LaGrange says this system was created following input from every single school district in the province, and insists it will benefit all of Alberta’s schools, including those in rural communities.

“We are favouring all education. What we’re trying to do is even out the ebbs and flows of increases and decreases across the system, and what we’re looking at is something the [school boards] have been asking for, for a very very long time.”

Though, when asked if bigger school districts, like Edmonton or Calgary, would actually benefit, she insists that the school boards in the bigger, metropolitan areas were asking for an early and concise estimate of future funding, and that this method would provide that for them.

LaGrange adds that while the Ministry of Education is saving money by cutting red tape and reducing deficiencies, she could not say what the savings would be, and wouldn’t have an answer until the 2020 Budget is released.

When asked ‘why make the announcement without having the numbers to back up the change?’ LaGrange replied that this is a very complex change.

“It’s going from a funding model that is now going to be totally different. It’s like comparing apples to oranges, and we wanted to give [the media] and the general public the opportunity to know that this is going to be a different system than they were used to.”

“This is new and it is innovative and it will provide, as I said, sustainable, predictable funding, which every school board has been clamouring for, for years and years and years. So, it is important that we get out the concept so that everyone can have an idea, next week, when you start seeing those numbers, then you can start actually asking those questions [about the dollar figure].”

by Liam Verster

New education funding model to take effect in 2020-21 school year

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