Lethbridge Schools Facing $5M Shortfall

In a recent Lethbridge Herald article, "Public school teachers warned of possible position cuts next year," the Lethbridge Board is facing a $5M shortfall. The school district has 8200 students at 18 schools and employs 531 certificated staff and 477 support staff. Preliminary analysis suggests 30 to 35 teaching positions and an unknown number of support staff positions will likely be eliminated due to the shortfall.

CBE Administration

During all the discussions and media coverage surrounding the provincial budget impacts on the Calgary Board of Education, CAPSC has had a few inquiries from parents asking for clarification around just what administration is and what is included as an administrative cost. We decided to send an inquiry to the government through Alberta Connects to get a definitive answer and their response appears below.

Alberta Education defines board governance and system administration as activities performed for the purpose of regulation and direction of the affairs of the school board. It includes costs related to the Boards of Trustees, Superintendents, Secretary-Treasurers and their staff. Examples of costs that may be included are: salaries, supplies, travel, member fees, school board elections, financial accounting, legal services, human resources and insurance related to central office. In general, boards use their discretion to determine the appropriate amount to allot for central office and system administration based on their local circumstances. Nonetheless, Education provides a standard recommendation that boards allot between four and six per cent of total expenditures for system administration, depending on the size of the jurisdiction.

We also confirmed this information with the CBE and yes, as Alberta Education had indicated, the Board of Trustees and Superintendents are included within their approximate 3.7% of total expenditures for system administration - including the lease of the new Education Centre. However, this number will likely change as administration positions are included in the phase 1 position cuts as outlined in the CBE Response to the Provincial Budget.

Alberta Budget 2011: Timeline Update for Education

Since the Alberta Budget 2011 - Building a better Alberta was tabled in the legislature on February 24, each department has had an opportunity to debate their budgets for three hours in the the house as part of the estimates process. According to the Budget - 2011 Estimates Schedule, Education will have its opportunity on Tuesday, April 19th from 3 to 6 pm. The full budget will be debated and voted on Wednesday, April 20th during the evening session from 6:30 to 9:30 pm. A live/archived video/audio stream of this debate can be accessed at Assembly Online. In the meantime, you can attend this important CAPSC meeting and use this CAPSC resource to make sure your voice is heard up in Edmonton before Tuesday, April 19th.

How can the challenges of Education Sector Workforce Planning and the goals of the Education Business Plan be met if teachers are cut?

A couple of years ago, the Director of the Workforce Planning Department of Alberta Education, made a presentation at a public meeting of the Board of Trustees as part of a board development session. The presentation centered around a draft modelling project that would help predict enrolment growth and teacher demand on an annual basis. The picture painted by this model clearly indicated there were challenges. In a recent article in the Calgary Herald, the headline reads "200 teaching jobs face elimination." Carol Henderson, ATA President, commented in the article that losing that many teachers "would have a devastating effect on the school system." She also shared that boards across the province are facing teacher cuts as well and "fears that if other boards across the province lose a proportionate number of teachers, up to 1,000 teaching positions could be gone." Her point was driven home in subsequent articles, "Rocky View struggles with school funding 'crisis'" and "Teacher graduates may have to move to find jobs." A quick revisit of the workforce planning piece was called for - perhaps there had been some new developments. A revised report dating from March of last year, "Education Sector Workforce Planning: Framework for Action" was available on the Alberta Government website. An excerpt from this report appears below:

In the midst of Alberta’s changing economy, school systems across the province are facing some significant workforce planning challenges: the number of educators who are eligible for retirement is at an all time high; student enrolment is climbing in more than 80% of school jurisdictions in Alberta; the supply of qualified teachers available to teach in certain geographic regions and subject areas is decreasing and the attrition rate for early career teachers is an issue. Recent reductions in class sizes, declining interest in education faculty study and a generally robust and competitive labour market all contribute to the workforce planning challenge that is imminent.

It is also interesting to note that the Alberta Government's Education Business Plan 2011-2014 lists three major goals: 1. Success for every student, 2. Transformed education through collaboration and 3. Success for First Nations, Metis and Inuit Students. How can these challenges in work force planning and the goals of the business plan be met if we are cutting teachers?

Education Property Tax - Calgary

When two issues collided - the CBE announcing staffing cuts due to lack of funding and the province not collecting $42M of education property tax - there was a great deal of confusion and misinformation. If you want to know more about the situation or have any outstanding questions, we would recommend you check out Mayor Naheed Nenshi's blog post, the 2011 Education Property Taxes - Calgary Fact Sheet from the Alberta Government and the Calgary Herald article, "The $42M that could have saved 172 school jobs? Not quite."

Hon. Dave Hancock to attend CAPSC meeting April 6

CAPSC is very pleased to have the Hon. Dave Hancock, Minister of Education, attend our meeting here in Calgary on Wednesday, April 6. He will be joined by Naomi Johnson, CBE Chief Superintendent, and Pat Cochrane, Chair of the Board of Trustees. This will be a lively education panel discussion and we will be taking questions directly from the audience. The meeting will start at 5 pm in the gym at AE Cross School.

RSVP: In order to help us plan for this meeting, we would appreciate if you would RSVP so that we can anticipate numbers of attendees. All are welcome - please RSVP at madeleine.baerg@capsc.ca.

CBE Trustees' Newsletter Insert

The Trustees recently released a detailed newsletter insert for Calgary schools outlining the facts about the provincial budget impacts on education. Trustees write that, "The true impact of a provincial budget on education is not measured in dollars. The impact will be measured by the negative effect it has on our students."

Have a read and use it as a handy reference when writing your letters and emails.....

Cuts to CBE Administration

I spoke with CBE Communications this morning and just want to clarify that the first phase of 172 positions cut do include administration. Alberta Education requires that boards spend no more than 4% of their budget on administration. The board was spending 3.7% and that number has been reduced futher.