ATHABASCA — It is a bit of good news in a time when good news is rare for institutions like school divisions — they will be held harmless for lower enrolment due to the pandemic.
During the Feb. 25 budget announcement from the provincial government, Aspen View Public Schools (AVPS) board chair Candy Nikipelo was relieved to hear Alberta Education would be using a funding formula based on September 2019 enrolment, as opposed to the lower 2020, which were skewed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What it means to be held harmless is that there won't be any surprises to us in the upcoming year, even though many or probably most or maybe even all of the school divisions in the province saw lower enrolment due to COVID,” Nikipelo said.
With the new weighted moving average announced Feb. 18 of last year, the lower numbers could have had a major impact on how much money is received. The average is based on 20 per cent of the previous year's enrolment, 30 per cent of the current year and 50 per cent of projected enrolment for the following year.
“It was kind of uncanny that everything all came at once,” she said. “I mean, we did get our funding change that we advocated for and then COVID hit and so it wouldn't have sat in any of the school divisions favour.”
AVPS trustees have not yet reviewed the provincial budget in its entirety to determine if there will be any other impact and Nikipelo said they will not know how much will be given to AVPS until the end of March, as compared to a week after the budget announcement last year.
"So, we've been told that we don't get our funding profiles — our specific funding for each envelope — until March 31,” she said. “It's about five weeks from the budget announcement to letting each school division know what their exact funding profile is. It’s a long time to sit and wonder and ponder where we are at with each envelope — transportation, facilities, that kind of thing.”
The government has also announced 14 new schools, although not where they will be — AVPS already has a new school approved for Smoky Lake — as well as $90 million for modular classrooms to be placed on existing schools for more teaching space.
Another positive change is more money for Program Unit Funding (PUF) which underwent major changes last year.
“Many of the school divisions advocated for (more funding) because of what happened last year,” said Nikipelo. “PUF was only being funded for three- and four-year-olds, so five-year-olds were suddenly left out of that and suddenly that child became five years old and our school division didn't have the funding anymore to have those specialized supports like one-on-one aides and such. So yeah, they are putting more money into the specialized learning envelope and PUF is right in there.”
Education minister Adriana LaGrange also announced more cross ministry collaboration, one more thing Nikipelo was pleased to hear.
“They're definitely looking into the cross-ministry collaboration. So that's another thing that we've always advocated for is to work with other ministries … and then she did say to realize short-, medium- and long-term strategies,” she said. “So, that sounds pretty hopeful. It's exactly what we've been honestly advocating for all year when you think about mental health supports, the PUF funding, which is a specialized learning, transportation.”
AVPS will now begin working on the spring budget she said and once they receive final word on what they will be getting it will be finalized and presented after March 31.
