cbe to pull $2.6m from reserves to address underfunding from province
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kids arrive by bus for the first day of school at chinook park school in calgary on aug. 31, 2023.
gavin young/postmedia
amid unprecedented growth, high inflation and increasingly complex classrooms, the calgary board of education will have to take $2.6 million out of reserves to balance next year’s budget after another year of provincial underfunding.
as part of this spring’s ucp budget, alberta education provided $1.4 billion in operating funds to the cbe, the largest school district in western canada with a total of 147,500 students expected by this fall.
but in a report before trustees tuesday, administration explained the funding isn’t enough, and an operating deficit of $2.6 million will have to be covered off through the district’s operating reserve fund, ensuring the balanced budget required by law.
according to the report, the cbe has seen historic enrolment growth since the pandemic, with migration from other provinces and around the world amid global unrest in ukraine and the middle east.
over the past three years, the cbe has welcomed 15,600 students and expects an additional 9,000 in the upcoming year, with increasing challenges around special needs kids, more students learning english as an additional language and higher maintenance costs as schools fill up.
trustee patricia bolger raised concerns about how rapid enrolment growth has also created a utilization rate of 92 per cent and this fall, when growth will continue, utilization rates could be as high as 98 per cent.
“based on our past growth, we’ll be over 100 per cent utilization next school year,” bolger said.
“what will actually happen when our schools are full, and we cannot accommodate students due to safety concerns.”
dany breton, cbe superintendent facilities, explained schools are getting full with some approaching 120 per cent capacity.
“and what does that look like? it looks like common areas needing to be converted to classroom spaces, but that comes with a bill, through reduced program richness and variety in our schools, because those common spaces are no longer available for everyone.”
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breton added the cbe will also be forced to add more overflow schools, and even look for other spaces to lease.
to address growth, the cbe says they’ve received an additional $85 million in year-over-year funding, meaning they can hire more teachers, education assistants and other support staff.
but it’s still not enough to address classroom complexity or manage growing class sizes, with administration saying since 2018-19, funding received from the province on a per-student basis has remained flat when considering enrolment growth.
“in fact, funding per student has not yet returned to the levels last seen in 2018-19,” the report states.
“as funding per student is used to fund cbe operations, and those operations cost more in 2024-25 than what they did in 2018-19, the cbe is stretching each dollar further.
“as a result, this budget sees a modest increase in the average class size across the system. as well, services and supports that address diversity and complexity have not increased at the rate necessary to provide services to a growing student body at levels equal to the 2023-24 school year.”
the report also states that if flat funding on a per-student basis continues beyond the 2024-25 school year as expected, “there will be continued upward pressure on average class size and downward pressure on the availability of services and supports that address diversity and complexity.”
but alberta education insisted they are supporting k-12 education by addressing rising enrolment growth and building new schools as quickly as possible, investing up to $1.2 billion to address growth and $1.5 billion to support the specialized learning needs of students.
“this funding may be utilized to hire additional teachers and classroom support staff, enabling school authorities to manage class sizes and the increasing number of students while ensuring students have the support they need to succeed in the classroom,” said education minister demetrios nicolaides.
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but trustee susan vukadinovic said parents continue to raise concerns to her about lack of space and resources in schools.
“i have been engaging with my constituents and hearing from them about the shortfall in funding we are receiving from the provincial government.
“i know that the funding shortfall isn’t just affecting the cbe, because i am learning that school boards right across alberta are finding themselves in dire straits,” vukadinovic said, adding that some families are even willing to depart from traditional programs and services to offset underfunding.
“to this end, i’ve heard a few people suggest to me that maybe what the cbe needs to do in a time of fiscal restraint is to get rid of school libraries, especially in cases where public libraries are located within walking distance, or to get rid of school cafeterias, or to move to a four-day school week like other school boards in alberta are doing to deal with their budget shortfalls.”
administrators said they are re-evaluating programming and services every school year on an ongoing basis.
the cbe’s budget will go before alberta education for final approval in june.
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