Preparing for a new provincial budget and possible cuts in education funding, aligning with the new Education Act and pushing for an increase to transportation funding are on tap for the Pembina Hills school division in 2015, says board chair Kim Webster.
The big news at the end of the year is that the province is in store for lean times as a huge drop in oil prices may cost the government up to $7 billion in revenue.
Webster said they hope to see education remain as one of the top two priorities when the 2015 provincial budget is announced.
“Whatever comes out of that budget announcement in March, we will figure out how to make it work well for kids in the classroom and for ADLC, and then we’ll find out where we need to advocate from there,” she said.
Pembina Hills had a busy year in terms of capital projects over 2014, with the opening of the new Pembina North Community School this fall, the subsequent closure of Jarvie and W.R. Frose School in Fawcett, and the start of construction on the new Neerlandia Public Christian School.
More work must be done at PNCS to convert it into a suitable K-9 school, but construction is proceeding ahead of schedule on the new K-9 school in Neerlandia, according to Webster.
Originally, the new Neerlandia school was not slated for completion until 2016, but that might be happening sooner. “It was not originally expected to be ready to open in 2015, but the possibility actually exists, even for this coming school year,” said Webster.
Their list of capital priorities that is submitted annually to Alberta Education includes the construction of a new gym at Busby School and the modernization of Barrhead Composite High School. Webster said those projects still definitely need to be done, but with the falling oil prices, the prospect of them happening soon is not great.
And, as Webster notes, they are a small school district that received two major capital projects over the past year.
“We would be hopeful to receive something more there, but maybe not expecting it.”
Over 2014, the division also negotiated a new service agreement with the ADLC, a process that must be undertaken every two years.
Webster said the division is working on a new longer-term service agreement with Alberta Education “so that we can continue to be the providers of distance education in the province” without needing to constantly be going through negotiations.
“We want to solidify that agreement for a longer term so it doesn’t have be to done every two years,” she said.
This past year saw the division participate in the redesign of Alberta’s curriculum. They were part of consortiums led by Edmonton and Calgary school boards that examined parts of the curriculum all the way from Grade 1 to 12.
Webster noted that trustee Jackie Comeau recently attended a symposium in Calgary within the last month on the curriculum redesign and what she reported back was “extremely inspirational.”
She added, “It was just really exciting to imagine .... what the new future will be like for curriculum.”
Webster said there will also be work in the new year aligning with the new regulations of the Education Act, which will replace the old School Act sometime this year. In mid-December, 16 draft regulations on transportation, school fees and other aspects of education were released to the public.
“There will be work for sure in reviewing all of our policies and procedures and making sure they align with the Education Act.
“All of our policies are going to be getting a really good review and possibly an overhaul.”
Trustees will also continue their efforts to convince the Westlock community to support a new School Resource Officer (SRO) position. Recently, trustees have made presentations to Westlock County and the Westlock Rotary Club.
The creation of an SRO, which would cost approximately $150,000 — Pembina Hills has offered to pay for half of the cost, while Westlock County and the Village of Clyde are willing to pick up another 25 per cent. Webster said they hope to have the partners in place so that the SRO could start work in the fall of 2015.
Finally, Pembina Hills continues to push for the restoration of the Fuel Price Contingency Grant or some other increase in funding for bus transportation.
The province eliminated the Fuel Price Contingency Grant two years ago, leaving school divisions to cover the cost of any fuel beyond the 60 cents per litre they are allotted.
