MORE UCP AUSTERITY
Amid enrolment pressures in K-12 schools, Alberta minister stands by UCP budget boost

Story by Lisa Johnson •1w

New school bus riders take part in the 15th annual First Riders event at the Edmonton Expo Centre onAug. 29, 2023. During the event students and families get to meet drivers, practice loading onto a bus, watch a safety video and learn basic safety tips. Approximately 1,000 kids took part in the event.© David Bloom

As Alberta kids enter K-12 classrooms facing unprecedented growth, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says the government is doing its best to accommodate the surge in enrolment.

In an interview with Postmedia Tuesday, Nicolaides was asked to address concerns from parents that their kids will be dealing with a lack of classroom support.

“We hear you and we’re taking steps to address that,” he said, acknowledging the province’s recent population influx demanded an increase for new hires, schools, and support for student transportation.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” he said.

February’s budget, cushioned by a healthy surplus, saw K-12 education funding increase by 5.2 per cent — a marked jump from last year’s 1.7 per cent hike — providing $8.8 billion for 2023-24. With that boost, the UCP promised to hire 650 teachers and 1,375 educational assistants and other support workers.

“We’re starting to see some significant new hiring happen across the province,” said Nicolaides, who added that other provinces having a hard time filling education positions.

Edmonton Catholic Schools spokesperson Christine Meadows told Postmedia in an email preliminary estimates put the division’s enrolment at more than 47,000 students — about 2,000 more than this time last year, or an increase of more than four per cent — and new schools are “urgently needed.”

“ We cannot address our enrolment pressures until new schools are built.”

This school year, Edmonton Catholic drew $19.8 million from its piggy bank of accumulated surplus to address a funding shortfall.

Edmonton Public Schools expects to have more than 114,000 students, approximately 5,000 — or an increase of about four per cent — more than last year. Its operating budget of $1.2 billion last year has increased to approximately $1.3 billion this year .

That means the division expects to receive provincial funding for 109,688 students in 2023-24, according to its latest figures.

Edmonton Public Board chairwoman Trisha Estabrooks said in an interview Wednesday with Postmedia she’s optimistic the new minister might take a constructive approach to tackling long-standing challenges.

“In a province that recently posted a record surplus, now is the time to invest in public education,” said Estabrooks, who added that with 12 school builds the board is asking for, only one had a full funding commitment .

“I feel like we’re playing catch-up on the new school builds,” said Estabrooks.

On Wednesday, Alberta Teachers’ Association president Jason Schilling said on social media class sizes are only going to grow. “Government needs to address this immediately so our students get the education they deserve,” he stated.

According to a recent report from the RIGHT WING Fraser Institute, student enrolment in public schools in Canada grew by 2.7 per cent between 2012-13 and 2020-21. The biggest increase happened in Alberta, which saw a rise of 12.4 per cent.

“In 2012-13, Alberta had the third highest per-student spending among the provinces. Nine years later, the province ranked last in the same category,” the report stated.

‘Already, we’re falling behind’: NDP critic

Critics, including the Opposition NDP, have said the budget increase is not nearly enough to make up for years of flat funding that has led to larger, more complex classrooms with students who are still dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and learning losses.

Last week, NDP education critic Rakhi Pancholi said teachers are bracing for bigger classrooms than the year before, but extra staff alone won’t solve overcrowding when there’s a need for more schools.

“We need to see an impact of dollars right away, and already we’re falling behind because school is starting right now,” said Pancholi, adding that the new school year is an opportunity for Nicolaides to show he’s going to do things completely differently than his UCP predecessor on the file, Adriana LaGrange.

Among LaGrange’s legacies is the province’s weighted moving average funding model, which funds schools based on enrolment over three years rather than a one-year count. Introduced in 2020, the formula has taken heat, particularly from growing school divisions like Edmonton Public, because it doesn’t keep pace with student demand.

To try to fill the cash gap, the government has since introduced a new supplemental enrolment growth grant for divisions that grow by more than two per cent each year, which can amount to between $1,500 to $3,000 per student.

Estabrooks has long criticized the funding formula, which she said doesn’t keep pace with growth and squeezes capacity to hire additional teachers, educational assistants and support workers. Estabrooks said she appreciates the new grants, but called them a band-aid solution.

“It is a full admission in my mind that the funding formula is broken,” she said, echoing Edmonton Catholic’s calls for changes to the model.

Niether Edmonton Public nor Edmonton Catholic had an accurate number of how many staff they had been able to hire this year.

“The more students you get, the less able a division can staff appropriately and meet its needs. For the upcoming school year, approximately 1,000 Edmomton Catholic students will not be fully funded,” said Meadows.

“Although we receive and appreciate the supplemental enrolment growth funding for enrolment growth in excess of two per cent, the amount is not significant enough to offset the imbalance created by the (weighted moving average) model.”

Future of PUF, pronoun rules, and curriculum still up in the air

The Alberta government stopped collecting and publishing class size data from school boards in 2019. WHEN KENNEY AND UCP WERE ELECTED

When asked what he believes an appropriate class size might be, Nicolaides said the government is focused on getting staffing levels up to snuff and making sure school boards have the cash they need.

“I’ll be taking a close look at where those pressures are, talking with our school divisions about where the need is the most.”

In a mandate letter to Nicolaides in February, Premier Danielle Smith directed him to review program unit funding (PUF), although when speaking to Postmedia, Nicolaides again did not commit to restoring PUF to the way it was before it was changed in 2020. 

The UCP cut per-child funding roughly in half for many preschoolers in language therapy and some medical therapies, and imposed stricter age limits on when help could be accessed, among other changes.

Nicolaides promised to consult with parents, families and operators.

“No decisions have been made, because I want to make sure that we’re taking the opportunity to talk to those most affected,” he said Tuesday.

The province still doesn’t have a timeline on when new drafts of the most controversial elementary school curriculum subjects, including social studies, might be released, although Nicolaides said an announcement is expected soon.

While Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are making it mandatory parents be informed when kids change their gender pronouns, Smith’s government has been wary of committing to such a commandment.

“My intent is to do some more listening and have some more in-depth conversations to to get a better perspective,” said Nicolaides.

In a statement to Postmedia last week, Smith said she doesn’t want to politicize private, family issues.

“We want to make sure that kids feel supported but we’ve also been clear that we also respect parental rights,” she said, adding she expects caucus to discuss it “in the coming weeks.”

lijohnson@postmedia.com