CBE hiking fees, cutting services
Larger class sizes, higher bus costs in effort to fill $48M budget hole
Looking to make up a $48-million funding gap for next year, public school officials are considering closing buildings, hiking fees and moving administrators into teaching jobs, while class sizes are expected to rise yet again.
And that budget plan for the Calgary Board of Education assumes a regular return-to-school scenario this fall, even though concerns around COVID-19 and socially distancing students could also increase costs.
“The worry is where we’ve heard from parents whose kids are learning at home and that they will come back with gaps in their learning,” said CBE chief superintendent Christopher Usih.
“We will have to be attentive to that, and grapple with that in terms of providing the resources we do have, especially once we know what re-entry looks like.”
CBE trustees questioned administrators for nearly four hours Tuesday during this week’s virtual board meeting to address budget concerns, with plans to debate and approve the document next week and send it to the province by the May 31 deadline.
And while the province has said it will provide an additional $20 million in funding for the CBE’S $1.37-billion budget for 2020-21, administrators say with an expected 3,000 new students and the opening of three new schools, the increase comes nowhere near to matching their needs.
The UCP government’s new funding framework for K-12 education has also presented many challenges, CBE officials say, including the removal of certain grants affecting special-needs students, school fee supports and per-capita funding based on annual enrolment increases.
Overall, the $48-million funding gap means schools will face a two per cent reduction in resources to classrooms, meaning class sizes will go up by an average of two students.
Bus fees will see huge hikes, particularly for students in alternative programs, with the CBE collecting $5 million in revenue to cover the full cost of service after the province cancelled that funding.
Families whose students live more than 2.4 kilometres from their designated school will pay $465 a year for busing, up from $365. And those who live between 1.6 and 2.4 kilometres from alternative schools will pay $800 compared with $365 the previous year, a 120 per cent increase.
Families will also pay a fee for school supplies, ranging anywhere between $20 and $200 depending on the grade of the student and their choices for special courses, a savings of up to $10 million for CBE. Usih admitted fee hikes may be difficult for some families and stressed, “Those facing financial hardship can always apply for a waiver.”
Programs for special-needs students will also be consolidated, including moving 16 individual early childhood education sites into only three locations with multiple classrooms, saving $7 million.
And the Welcome Centre for new Canadian and refugee students will be moved from the former Kingsland School to CBE headquarters downtown, closing down the Kingsland site for a savings of $1 million.
The Discovering Choices program for at-risk high school students will move from four sites to three, shuttering the Bowness location, saving the CBE about $250,000.
Funding supports for English language learners will also be reduced from seven years to five years, saving another $6 million.
And up to 70 staff with teaching certification but working in administrative jobs will be moved into classrooms, eliminating the need to spend up to $5 million hiring new teachers.
Brad Grundy, chief financial officer for the CBE, says even though provincial funding is slightly up this year, it still does not meet the demands of growth.
“While the CBE funding is up from 2019-20 levels, it is below the levels of the 2018-19 school year. And in that time, we have grown by 5,300 students and we have to operate three additional schools.”
Colin Aitchison, press secretary for Education Minister Adriana Lagrange, argued the CBE needs to look harder for efficiencies.
“The numbers are black and white, the Calgary Board of Education is receiving a $20-million increase for the upcoming school year,” he said. “This board has publicly complained annually about ‘shortfalls,’ even during the NDP’S tenure. The CBE needs to look internally to better manage their funds to meet the needs of their students.”
Last fall, the CBE’S $1.34-billion budget for the 2019-20 school year also saw much controversy, including cuts to 317 teaching jobs that were eventually rescinded after the province allowed school boards to repurpose maintenance funding for emergency needs.
That budget also included a $48-million funding gap that was addressed through $23 million in cuts to classrooms, up to $18 million in transportation cuts and administrative reductions of two to five per cent.
Meanwhile the Calgary Catholic School District will debate its budget next week as officials also look to changes in busing.
To qualify for busing, K-6 students must now live at least 1.8 km or more from their designated school, an increase from the previous 1.2 km, with the fee now at $415.
Bryan Szumlas, CCSD chief superintendent, said in an update to trustees last week that an initial look at budget information suggests the district may face a deficit, with a need to draw on reserves to manage class sizes, support special education classes and accommodate student growth.