New budget overhauls education funding

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

While it took them a few weeks to digest the changes, school officials are cautiously optimistic about the new provincial educational funding schedule.
A new K to 12 education funding model, outlined in the 2020 provincial budget and to be implemented in September 2020, changes how schools apply for funding and report to the provincial government.
This new model will “provide school boards with the flexibility and, more importantly, the predictability they have been seeking,” said Minister of Finance Travis Toews, during his 2020 budget speech. “The new formula better manages student growth, streamlines the large number of grants to reduce duplication, simplifies reporting, and directs funding to the classroom instead of administration.”
One of the biggest takeaways from the changes is that funding for education is expanding under the new budget, in contrast to other public agencies that have seen funding reduced, said Bevan Daverne, Golden Hills School Division superintendent.
“Given the economic climate in Alberta, which is very challenging, and that almost every other government funding agency has taken a cut – we’re talking 10 per cent, 20 per cent – for it to be looking like we have a little more money than last year, we’re pretty happy about that,” he said.
“It means that from our perspective, this government is prioritizing education.”
However, the new funding framework is “almost impossible to compare with our old funding framework,” because “the categories that funding comes to us are all different,” said Daverne.
Under the new model, the number of grants by which schools apply for funding was reduced from 36 to 15, “drastically changing” how schools will apply for funding going forward. These grants include base instruction grants providing funding based on enrolment, services and support grants for special needs funding, school grants for funding operations, maintenance and transportation, community grants funding to help with “socio-economic and geographic challenges,” and jurisdiction grants for funding administration.
Another major change outlined in the new model was a switch to the use of a weighted moving average method for all grants that calculates average enrolment, which will “make it easier for school boards to predict enrolment and minimize school authorities having to adjust their revenue forecasts or staffing levels throughout the school year,” according to a government of Alberta news release.
The changes will also reduce the amount of reporting required by school administrations, which has increased in recent years, said Daverne.
“The last number of years, we’ve seen quite an increase in the kind of reporting we do and how often we report in a number of different areas – whether it’s special needs funding, funding for younger students, ESL student funding, reporting our district finances or reporting of fees that parents are being charged,” he said.
“The amount of reporting we do in specific areas has either been eliminated or significantly reduced – that was welcome information in this budget.”
A representative from Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools was contacted for comment and said the changes were still being assessed by the division.