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By rdnewsNOW Staff

Alberta

Province highlighting supports for students in Budget 2023

Mar 10, 2023 | 2:41 PM

Officials with the Alberta government are highlighting that Budget 2023 is providing more than $820 million over the next three years to support enrolment growth in schools.

Based on strong population growth in Alberta, officials say a large increase in student enrolment is expected in September 2023.

“With Alberta’s rising population, we know many school authorities across the province continue to face growing enrolment pressures,” says Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Education. “Our strong funding commitment in Budget 2023 will empower school authorities to hire more teachers and obtain more resources for students.”

Over the next three years, the government says Education’s operating expense is increasing by nearly $2 billion. This is expected to support the hiring of approximately 3,000 education staff, including teachers, educational assistants, bus drivers and school support staff, and help authorities manage growing class sizes.

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The government says funding increases for enrolment will be provided to school authorities through existing grants that include enrolment components. This includes the Early Childhood Services and Grades 1-9 Base Instruction grant and the High School (Grades 10-12) Base Instruction grant, as well as grants in the services and supports category, such as Specialized Learning Support, English as an Additional Language, and Program Unit Funding. Officials note the Operations and Maintenance grant also includes an enrolment component, saying the flexible funding provided allows local authorities to make decisions on how to best use the funding to support their students.

The province says the Funding Manual for School Authorities 2023/24 School Year and projected operational funding profiles have now been released, providing school authorities with their funding information for the coming year.

“ASBA is pleased that government has been responsive to school boards’ requests for early release of the funding manual and operational funding profiles, as it assists in informed decision-making,” says Marilyn Dennis, president, Alberta School Boards Association.

“Government’s investment in enrolment growth is welcome news as boards address the growing, diverse and complex student needs within their divisions while remaining accountable to their communities.”

“The CASS board of directors recognizes the importance of supporting enrolment growth while maintaining sustainable support for all boards. The early release of the funding manual will assist school authorities in initiating planning needs for the 2023-24 school year,” shares Scott Morrison, president, College of Alberta School Superintendents.

“The investment in enrolment growth of Budget 2023 and other increases in grants are most welcome and will greatly help school authorities face significant challenges including high inflation and labour shortage,” says Francois Gagnon, president, Association of School Business Officials Alberta. “The association also appreciates the timeliness of the release of the funding manual and recognizes the extraordinary work of the department staff to make this possible.”

Alberta government quick facts

• Last fall, the government announced a new supplemental enrolment growth grant that provided school authorities with more than $21 million in additional funding. This grant will continue to be available in the 2023-24 school year.
• Alberta Education introduced the Supplemental Enrolment Growth (SEG) grant in the 2022-23 school year to support school authorities with significant enrolment growth.
• The SEG grant provided additional per-student funding for authority enrolment growth of more than two per cent in the 2022-23 school year. The SEG grant, in addition to weighted moving average-based allocations, will provide additional funding to school authorities that have significant growth.
• Over the next three years, the government will provide school authorities with more than $820 million in additional funding to support enrolment growth.
• In the 2020-21 school year, school boards were funded for about 730,000 students and actual attendance was 705,000.
• In the 2021-22 school year, school boards were funded for about 730,000 students and attendance was about 716,000.
• The robust financial health of school jurisdictions continues to be demonstrated by taxpayer funded reserves, reported to be $407 million as of Aug. 31, 2022.

Sarah Hoffman, Alberta NDP Critic for Education, made the following statement in response:

“For the first time in four years the UCP say they are going to fund enrolment growth. That’s the bare minimum that government should be doing; when students enroll in a school they should be funded every year, not just in an election year.

“The UCP’s record is that new kids didn’t get new funding. They cut funding for disabled students, including those who needed PUF, and they failed to build schools in growing communities.

“The UCP brought in a funding formula that punishes growing school jurisdictions and this year they got rid of the bridge funding that helped cushion those cuts.

“Funding per student is less under Danielle Smith than it was under Rachel Notley.

“It’s clear that Danielle Smith and the UCP can’t be trusted with public education.

“Alberta families deserve a premier who will adequately fund education every year, not just an election year.”