Aspen View School Board approved their 2012-2013 instructional budget last Thursday.
The board approved a funding formula with average pupil-to-teacher ratios of 17-to-1 (Kindergarten to Grade 3), 20-to-1 (Grade 4 -9) and 22-to-1 (Grade 10-12).
"These are better than the provincial funding rates,” said superintendent Brian LeMessurier.
Those ratios are slightly better than the previous year, he said.
“This emphasizes the board and administration’s commitment to keeping class sizes as low as we possibly can,” he explained. “There are guaranteed minimum staffing levels for high schools, so Boyle, H.A Kostash and Thorhild are guaranteed at least 4.6 teachers for their high school.”
Grassland School is guaranteed 2.25 positions for their high school, according to the approved budget.
“By working through our centrally administered budget at division office, we were able to reduce our 2012-2013 centrally administered budget significantly and deployed those funds to the classroom level, enabling us to increase those guaranteed minimum staffing levels at each of the schools,” LeMessurier said.
The schools will now sit down and discuss their budget options.
“Now that the board has ratified the instructional budget, and has approved our staffing formula … budget templates have been sent out to staffing administrators, and they now use site-based management to set their budgets at a school level,” he said. “They work with their liaison from division office to establish their 2012-2013 operating budget.”
LeMessurier said that because they cut the division office admin budget, they were able to use the money they saved on teaching positions.
“We were able to increase Grassland, Rochester and Smith by a half-time teaching position,” he said.
Boyle School was allocated $1,690,973 to account for all staffing, administrative and instructional resources. Edwin Parr Composite High School was allotted $3,244,093. Grassland School received $803,450. Landing Trail Intermediate School now has a budget of $2,338,687. Rochester and Smith School received around $555,000.
Whispering Hills Primary School is looking at $2,319,309, Athabasca Colony school has a working operating budget of $80,480, and Athabasca Outreach School was allotted $147,132.
