A funding injection from the province will spare local school boards from dipping as deeply as planned into reserves to pay for the upcoming school year.
Education Minister Dave Hancock revealed on his blog Wednesday that the Alberta government will provide money to fund a 2.92 per cent increase to base student funding and the class size initiative.
The injection amounts to about $1 million extra for each of St. Albert's school jurisdictions. The Catholic and Protestant jurisdictions had each committed to maintaining their teaching staffs but both were looking at dipping into reserves to achieve this.
“Good for Hancock. That's excellent news,” said Morag Pansegrau, board chair for St. Albert Protestant Schools. “I think it's excellent that they gave it to us now so schools can be staffed properly.”
Pansegrau added the timing could have been better.
“It's unfortunate we had all the terrible stress on teachers, on principals, on all of us, but if they came through with the money then that's good,” she said.
St. Albert Catholic board chair Dave Caron was happy.
“That is good news that they're following up on their earlier commitment. We're pleased. That will clearly help us,” he said.
Catholic division administrators expect the funding will reduce the board's deficit from $1.6 million to about $500,000 for the next school year, said superintendent David Keohane.
The Catholic board deferred approval of its budget until November, an option Hancock extended due to the uncertainty over funding. Caron expects the board will stick to this timeline when it returns from its summer break.
In June the Protestant board passed a deficit budget of $1.8 million for the upcoming school year. This included the use of $1.5 million worth of reserves.
The additional money will save some of the reserves but the final impact will depend on student enrolment, said associate superintendent of finance Michael Brenneis.
As it does every year, administration will present the board with an updated budget after Sept. 30 when it knows how many students it has, said superintendent Barry Wowk.
Local trustees have been vocal about the fact the province's spring budget, passed in February, didn't include money for the salary increase that teachers will be due when the new school year starts. According to a five-year deal signed in 2007, teacher salaries are tied to the Alberta Weekly Earnings Index.
Hancock had been saying the government would provide the money when it could. On Wednesday's blog post, Hancock said the provincial cabinet feels the time is now right to provide the money, given that the province recently learned its financial performance in the last fiscal year was much better than expected.
The province posted a deficit of $1 billion in 2009-10, much less than the $4.7-billion deficit budgeted.
A number of comments on Hancock's blog criticize the minister for the timing of the announcement, suggesting it has created uncertainty for teachers.
Alberta Teachers' Association president Carol Henderson agreed the timing wasn't optimum but she said the minister did his best.
“I really think that the minister did what he could with a caucus that may not have always been that willing,” she said. “I give him full marks for that, actually.”
The move will cost the province $63 million this fiscal year, said Alberta Education spokesperson Kathy Telfer.
