Flow of new students strains board budgets
Alberta school boards must keep pressure on the provincial government to continue to fund growing schools, Edmonton public school board’s chair said Tuesday.
Despite a sluggish provincial economy, a steady flow of new students continue to arrive in Edmonton public and Catholic schools, said budget documents presented to both boards. Nearly 3,800 new pupils will enrol in the districts, projections said.
“It’s important for the provincial government to understand, yes, we know you’re in dire straits,” Edmonton public board chairman Michael Janz said. “… Now is not the time to be doing anything short of investing or holding the line on education spending.”
Nearly 3,000 more children and teens will enrol in the city’s public schools compared to last September, projections said — the equivalent of adding a large high school full of kids to the system. It would be unsustainable to absorb that kind of influx without extra funding, Janz said.
Recent history left urban school board trustees anxious. Before the May 2015 provincial election, the Progressive Conservative government had said it couldn’t afford to fund school boards’ growth; they’d have to make do with status quo funding. Once they took power, the NDP government restored that money. In this year’s provincial budget, the government opted to borrow to give more operating funds to growing school districts.
Edmonton Catholic school board chairwoman Marilyn Bergstra said she was especially grateful for that cushion when her board approved
You don’t want to cut services to education. In the long term, it really hurts your economy.
its $485-million budget last month, which anticipates around 770 more students.
“You don’t want to cut services to education. In the long term, it really hurts your economy,” Bergstra said.
As Edmonton public trustees discussed their budget Tuesday afternoon, superintendent Darrel Robertson said Edmonton’s strong construction sector appears to have cushioned it somewhat from Alberta’s economic tumble, precipitated by the drooping price of oil.
The district is on track for a 3.2-per-cent enrolment hike, which is slightly higher than last year’s three per cent growth.