School boards find budget math less hard with NDP funding promise

Alberta school boards drawing up their budgets for next year just found the math a whole lot easier.

"We're anticipating another 3,000 students arriving on our doorsteps in September," said Edmonton public school trustee Michael Janz. "Now with a commitment from the premier to properly fund the enrolment growth, we'll have money to properly educate those students."

The boards found themselves in limbo when the Prentice government fell last week.

"We were unsure of what the mandate was," said Debbie Engel, chair of Edmonton Catholic Schools. "The last legal document we got was March 26, a letter from Gordon Dirks that said, present your budget; have a real, concrete, well-detailed laid-out plan if you plan to use any reserves.

"And don't cut teachers, but do it with less money, and no funding for new enrolment.

"We were very much in a situation where we didn't know how possibly we were going to offer the same services."

On Tuesday, premier designate Rachel Notley gave the boards one extra month to draw up their budgets, enough time to learn how much more money they can expect from the new government.

"Our government was elected on a commitment to fund enrolment growth," Notley told reporters Tuesday.

Parents at Edmonton's Holyrood Elementary School were also pleased.

"I think that it's a great thing that they aren't going to cut them," said Bob Janelle. "This province should have a lot of money, but the last government made a mess of it somewhere down the line."

During the campaign the school boards made overcrowded classrooms an election issue when they held a news conference to shame the government into funding new students, something unheard in earlier campaigns when Tory majorities were all but a certainty.

Janz said the new students coming into the Edmonton Public School system will require an additional $16 million.

Altogether, 12,000 new students will enter Alberta schools in September.