Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange (Photo: Government of Alberta)

By Shaun Penner

Education Fund re-routed

Province temporarily reduces K-12 education funding for “services not being utilized”

Mar 28, 2020 | 3:36 PM

The provincial government announced on Saturday that it is temporarily re-routing some of the funding from its education budget to its COVID-19 response, which will have an affect on areas such as transportation, educational assistants and other support services while at-home learning continues during the pandemic.

“While funding for teachers and most other aspects of the K-12 system is being maintained, funding for transportation and some services not being utilized in an at-home learning environment, such as substitute teachers and educational assistants, is being temporarily reduced while in-person classes remain cancelled,” reads a release from the provincial government.

The UCP government goes on to further say that each school division will receive the necessary funding to continue at-home learning, making sure students do not fall behind.

However, funding to services like substitute teachers, educational assistants and many other areas of the public education system has been cut in the short-term.

“COVID-19 has changed both how we provide student learning, and the operational needs of the education system,” said Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, in a release. “I want to stress that this is a temporary arrangement as schools focus on at-home learning. I have full confidence the system will continue to be equipped to successfully deliver our education continuity plan.”

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Though the province did not announce how many staff members would be laid off for the time being, the opposition NDP took to Twitter quickly, with Education Critic Sarah Hoffman calling the move “cruel” to the “thousands” of employees that will be laid off.

The province says all affected employees will be eligible for the federal enhanced employment insurance program and other support programs for Canadian workers.