More people than ever are coming to Alberta, adding more pressure to the province’s education system.
Premier Danielle Smith was at a Calgary school Tuesday to announce $215 million in funding which her government says will help alleviate pressure on the system.
“More and more people are choosing to make Alberta their home and that means our K-12 schools are home to a growing number of students,” Smith said. “We’re providing school authorities with additional spaces and resources, so they can continue the important work they do educating young Albertans.”
Starting in the 2024-25 school year, the province says it is investing $215 million for the purchase of more modular classrooms, and the hiring of teachers and educational assistants.
Every school authority in Alberta will get a share of the $125 million set aside for operational funding. The amount available for each school authority will be based on the number of students it serves.
The province says $90 million is being invested for the construction and installation of up to 100 new modular classrooms and the relocation of up to 50 modular units.
In Calgary, the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) will get up to 31 new modular classrooms and have up to 14 relocated and the Calgary Catholic School Division will receive up to 14 new modular classrooms and have up to six relocated.
Rocky View Schools will also get up to 12 new modular classrooms and have up to 12 relocated.
In Edmonton, the public school division will receive up to 26 new modular classrooms and have up to 11 relocated and the Edmonton Catholic School Board will get up to 17 new modular classrooms and have up to seven relocated.
It adds that this will create up to 2,500 new spaces and 1,250 “optimized” spaces for students in Calgary and Edmonton.
Schools in Alberta’s major centres are experiencing a large volume of additional enrolment; CBE chair Patricia Bolger says the division is preparing for 8,000 more students this upcoming school year, while Edmonton Catholic Schools board chair, Sandra Palazzo, says her division is preparing for 2,800 new students.
Over the next three years, the province says more than $1.2 billion is being invested for schools to address growth in enrolment. Officials say this will allow for the hiring of more than 3,100 additional teachers and classroom support staff. More than $1.5 billion is also earmarked to support specialized learning needs and address complex classrooms.
The 2024-25 school year will see the highest spending ever on Alberta’s education system, the province claims, with more than $9.3 billion in planned spending.
In June, the Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA) said nearly one-third of school divisions in the province would have less teachers next school year, even as enrolment was set to increase. President Jason Schilling said at the time the problem was due to the “significant and systemic” underfunding of education.
Prior to that, the ATA launched a campaign called ‘Stop the Excuses’ which highlighted so-called chronic underfunding in the system.
The organization pointed to Statistics Canada data indicating Alberta spends, on average, $11,601 per student, compared to other provinces which averaged $13,332 per student.