Aspen View Public Schools division has stated it is “profoundly disappointed” with Alberta’s 2017 budget, noting that the per-student funding model penalizes rural Alberta where enrolment is declining.
According to a March 17 press release, the school division is upset with the provincial government’s “lack of acknowledgement for the concerns of rural Alberta school jurisdictions.”
Aspen View superintendent Mark Francis said that the only way for a division to get more money from the province is to get more kids in their schools.
“We’ve been trying to press on that with the government, that in rural Alberta we’re not getting anymore kids and that means our funding is going to go down,” he said.
“Per student funding may work in Edmonton, but it sure doesn’t work in Boyle Alberta, it sure doesn’t work in Smoky Lake, Alberta and it sure doesn’t work in Athabasca, Alberta,” he also said.
Francis met with Finance Minister Joe Ceci Jan. 18 in Redwater to review the current per-student funding model, requesting a model that would be beneficial to both urban and rural school divisions.
“I felt that it was very positive,” he said. “He said that they understood some of those concerns.”
However, Alberta Education press secretary Lindsay Harvey said there are currently no plans to change the current funding model.
“At this time, there are no plans for a significant change in the funding format,” she said in an email. “The ministry regularly reviews the grants within the funding framework to ensure equity throughout our education system.”
Three years’ cost enrolment decline has left Aspen View with a zero per cent increase in funding for the past four years.
According to the press release, Aspen View has budgeted an operating deficit of approximately $389,000 for this current school year, funded through operating reserves that have been drawn down from $4.19 million to $1.14 million over the last three years.
“It’s three years of NDP budget and two previous that with the (Progressive Conservative) government, is that we’ve had four straight years of zero per cent increases (on enrolment).”
Alberta Education forecasts that because of a 1.9 per cent decline in enrolment, Aspen View will see a $372,000 decrease in provincial funding for the 2017-18 school year.
Francis said the funding would be determined on the actual student enrolment, adding that a further reduction of the funding next year will leave Aspen View facing difficult choices in “order to remain viable.”
“That’s the situation we’re in, is we have to talk about what programs in Aspen View are viable,” Francis said. “We’re really proud of our literacy program. We’re really proud of our mechanics and arts programs, and we run these things on a shoe-string budget, often sharing staff between schools.”
Harvey said the ministry has not set a policy for what range of operating reserves school boards should maintain, but does recognize in its business plan that boards carrying reserves in excess of five per cent of operating expenses are reviewed closely.
“We trust local school authorities to appropriately manage and utilize their reserves,” she said.
Harvey said that the current funding framework is “based on the demographic and geographic environment within services are delivered to students,” noting that it does take into account challenges that rural schools face such as declining enrollment.
Harvey said to help offset these costs Aspen View receives extra money through five different grants, which are directly related to rural school challenges, such as being in centres with a population less than 5,000, small school boards, transportation and small schools.
Harvey also pointed out that Aspen View received $7,593,806 in total grant funding for the 2016-17 school year.
The budget issues were discussed during Aspen Views Board of Trustees meeting March 23 on how to address the issue. A motion was carried unanimously to invite the three MLAs who represent the school board to discuss the implementations of Budget 2017.
