Additional provincial funding for Edmonton schools to be allocated to address student needs

More money will make its way into Edmonton schools to help students in need, after the public school board approved a plan for the additional provincial funds in a meeting on Tuesday.

Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced $215 million more in funding for school divisions across the province in July for the 2024-25 school year. The province said the money was a response to rapidly increasing enrolment rates.

After inflation, Edmonton Public Schools is now expecting an additional $22.4 million for this school year.

Julie Kusiek, board chair, said that they will focus the majority of the additional funding to provide more direct support for students in need.

"The current funding formula doesn't fund every single student that we see coming into our doors," she said. "So we are seeing the impacts of that, we're spreading the amount of money we have further and further… which doesn't leave a whole lot else for resources and other things that students might need."

The board is allocating $13 million of the additional funds to what it calls "weighted enrolment," which provides specialized learning support required by students in need.

Students who need more support will receive more funding. Schools with similar numbers of total students won't necessarily receive the same funding, if the composition of the students differ and different supports are required. 

Even with the additional funding, board trustee Saadiq Sumar said there is a fundamental problem with the province's  funding formula that uses a weighted moving average to determine how much school authorities receive for each student enrolled.

"We haven't found a formula that works … potentially because it doesn't work, and there needs to be a rethink of exactly what the funding formula looks like," he said. "I really hope that when we're able to provide feedback on that, that the province does listen and does take our perspective into account, because we're talking about 120,000 students." 

Superintendent Darrel Robertson said that the additional funding is welcomed but it won't be enough 

"Long story short, while this money is welcome, it's not what we should be receiving should each and every kid be funded on an equitable basis throughout the province," he said. 

Robertson said the additional funding is only half of what he thinks the school division should be receiving. 

Robertson is also concerned about the dwindling spaces in schools, with schools in Edmonton and Calgary are experiencing or nearing full capacity. The province said this summer the system is adding more 33,000 students every year, which is equivalent to 35 new schools. Edmonton alone saw over 5,000 more students than last year. 

"[It's] a significant consideration when we're talking about adding staff or splitting classes," he said. "We are literally out of classroom space in some of our schools."

The province is addressing spacing issues, allocating $90 million of the July funding toward adding modular classrooms in Calgary, Edmonton and Airdrie. While those might not come into immediate effect, Kusiek is confident that the quality of teaching services will remain high.

"Our infrastructure staff … are in touch with the province around the delivery of those, we don't expect those right away," she said. "We have been in a space crunch for quite a while now, and so we are looking for more classroom space as soon as possible."