PHRD receives $790K boost in education funding

Schools in the Barrhead and Westlock areas will have a bit more breathing room financially this year after last week’s announcement that $107 million dollars will be added to school budgets province-wide.

The Pembina Hills school division will receive an additional $791,276, while Evergreen Catholic will get $662,260, according to Alberta Education.

Thomas Lukaszuk, the new education minister under Premier Alison Redford, made the announcement last week in Edmonton, and spoke to rural media outlets via a teleconference last Friday.

He explained that while this $107 million is a one-time cash injection for the 2011/12 school year, he also hopes to ensure schools are properly funded in the future.

“At the end of the day, my goal will be that every child in this province receives the highest possible level of education, and that will mean we have to find ways of funding school boards equitably, and also giving them predictability in their funding,” he said.

The money was distributed in a way that’s “similar” to previous grants provided to schools, but did not elaborate.

Lukaszuk said he had given instructions to school boards as to how the money should be spent, but ultimately he has given individual boards a lot of leeway and autonomy.

“You will hear me say over and over again that no matter what we all do, we have to always look through the lens of a child. Everything we do must have positive outcomes in the classroom,” he said. “My overarching request was that these dollars be spent in a way that a student ... will feel and see the difference in his or her classroom.”

Lukaszuk acknowledged that by finding an extra $107 million for Alberta’s schools, the money would have to come from other departments, a task for the Treasury Board and its new president Doug Horner, but said the new government’s priority will be education.

“Education will be the priority for this government, and that will be the guiding light for the treasury board in their search for dollars,” he said.

Lukaszuk said as minister, he hopes to be able to take the time to visit each school division to see what unique challenges they face.