Edmonton Public Schools taps reserves for pandemic costs, mental health supports

With no new federal or provincial pandemic aid in sight, Edmonton Public Schools will ask permission to dip into its savingsto fund extra COVID-19 costs next year.

"COVID's expensive," school board chair Trisha Estabrooks said following a public meeting on Tuesday. "But we know, as more people including many of our students get vaccinated, we hopefully will be returning to, yet again, a different school year."

Next September appears to be coming without the $38-million injection in funding from the federal government the school division relied uponthis year to offer parallel online and in-person options. Parents and students could move between the system at four points during the year.

The division willalso offer online classes next fall, but school-based online options will disappear after January 2022.

That has the division predicting it will need about 430 fewer employees compared to this year, including 357 fewer certified teachers. It's about a five per cent reduction in the division's workforce.

The divisionanticipates student enrolment will rebound following a pandemic dip, with 2.7 per cent more full-time students to teach next fall. They predict more than 105,000 pupils will ultimately be in classrooms next year, including many more kindergarteners.

Balancing the $1.21-billion budget will require the division to draw at least$25million from its reserves a step that now requires the permission of the education minister.

An estimated $8 million of that is COVID-19 related, including money for online teachers, personal protective equipment and extra cleaning.

The board also plans to using savingsto fund the collection of race-based data, help bolster academics at schools with more socially vulnerable students and outfitbathrooms to make free menstrual products available.

Last-minute addition for mental health

Board vice-chair Nathan Ip successfully amended the budget to allocate up to an extra $1 million on mental health supports for students following the pandemic.

He said he's hearing frequently about the detrimental effects of the pandemic from students and their families and is concerned about the longer-term consequences.

Trustee Bridget Stirling said money that should be destined for teaching is being diverted to patch up lapses in the health-care system.

"I'm angry that we have to do it," she said. "This shouldn't be the school system's job."

With at least $12 million more in planned expenses, the division's budget will rise by about one per cent compared to the current school year.

The board also resolved Tuesday to press provincial health and education ministers for more information about what data they relied on to decide that a return to in-person classes this Thursday will be safe.

Estabrooks said she's encouraged to see new COVID-19 cases falling in Edmonton, but she fears a fourth wave.

She said it would be terrible for students, especially those finishing Grade 12, to spend their final weeks of the school year in quarantine.

"There's so much about this year that hasn't been ideal," she said. "I just don't want to be in a situation where we are having to pivot, yet again, to an online environment."