ROCKY VIEW— Rocky View Schools is on track to receive the same provincial funding for the 2021-22 school year it received for 2020-21.
Alberta Budget 2021 was released Thursday (Feb. 25) and indicated what the school board already knew, said Superintendent Greg Luterbach— Kindergarten to Grade 12 education funding in the province would remain at $8.2 billion for the next few years.
Funding profiles for school districts were not released in time for the school board meeting, but the figures are expected before the end of March. The lack of available funding profile is not expected to impact the creation of Rocky View Schools' 2021-22 budget.
"Without that profile, while we know broad statements ... We don't have the details. We wait with bated breath for the actual, specific funding profile sheets to come out." Luterbach said. "We'll start pessimistic with an approach that we're getting the same amount of money as we were getting last year, and hopefully earlier in March ... We'll find out that we're getting more money than that."
Luterbach said the district is hoping to see additional details on the allocation of funds before March 31. Until that information is released by the province the Rocky View Schools' budget committee will craft the budget based on dollar figures from last year.
"When we start, we'll make an assumption that our bottom-line dollars are going to be exactly the same as it was last year," Luterbach said. "Based on that we'll get started ... At the same time, we'll be working on some priorities."
The Alberta Budget released in 2020 saw an increase of $100 million of operating expenses up from $8.2 billion in 2019-2020 to $8.3 billion in 2020-2021. The change was a result of school jurisdictions being expected to use their own revenue and reserves as the government transitioned into a new Kindergarten to Grade 12 Funding and Assurance Model.
At the time Rocky View Schools saw an approved budget for 2020-21 that included more than $267 million in funding from the Government of Alberta.
A year ago, a new funding formula framework was introduced in Alberta. The framework involved several new changes, including an adaptation to the weighted moving average, along with access to provincial grants.
The framework was tweaked through the summer and the spring with funding formulas later provided to districts which detailed how funds would be provided by the Province of Alberta.
School boards receive the funds from the province and can decide on how the money can best be put to use, Luterbach said. He added some exceptions are in place, for example a school board cannot spend more money on administration than the amount set by the government.
Rocky View Schools weighted moving average for next year will be based on the actual numbers from 2020, student attendance projections for this year and projections for next year. The true formula would have used was for 2020, 2021 and projections for 2022, but has adapted in the face of COVID-19.
"That's good news because less students attended Rocky View Schools than what we projected," Luterbach said.
Rocky View Schools saw fewer students attend schools in the district than was originally projected, Luterbach said, but an estimated $130 million will remain in the budget for Rocky View Schools.
Additionally, in the coming weeks, the province will announce 14 new construction and modernization projects across the province.
"Certainly, in Rocky View Schools, we hope to see at least our number one capital priority from last year, which is the expansion of the Bow Valley High School in Cochrane," Luterbach said.
Budget 2021 included $149 million for the modular classroom program, which is a significant increase, Luterbach said. Rocky View Schools is still waiting to see how many units will be approved for the district.
Operations and maintenance will not see an increase in funding this year, Luterbach said, instead of $40 million will go toward an increase in learning support funding.
Board chair Fiona Gilbert said a commitment of $8.2 billion for public school education was good to hear. She noted it is especially important to learn about modular funding as it will dictate plans for the school board in September.
Gilbert also serves as the chair of the budget committee and the committee has begun the budget development process for the school district. Rocky View Schools has until May 31 to complete the division's budget and have it approved by the government.
The funding profile provided by the province will be critical, she said, as it provides specific numbers that can be plugged into the document.
Ward 4 Trustee Norma Lang noted the different process in which the budget was announced for 2021— Both late and with incomplete numbers.
Lang said this will impact the budget development timeline for Rocky View Schools. She added is she is concerned the district may be ambitious with beginning work on the budget when the funding profiles will not be received until the end of March.
"The budget was decoupled from the sharing of the funding profiles," Lang said. "We don't actually have the details that we need to move things forward."
