Foothills School Division has dipped into its surplus in order to continue its standards of education for the upcoming school year. Trustees passed a $96.68 million budget with a deficit of approximately $1.8 million for the 2018-19 school year at the division’s public meeting May 23 in High River. “The biggest issue when you are looking at a budget of that size is that you have the supports in place to provide the best learning opportunity to students,” said Drew Chipman, division assistant superintendent, corporate services. School boards can have a deficit budget if it has surplus in operational reserves. At present, the Foothills reserves are at around $10 million. Chipman anticipates the division using the surplus for deficit spending for the next two years or so until it gets to around five per cent of its budget as targeted by previous boards and Alberta Education. The 2018-19 budget is based on an estimated 31-student drop in enrolment from this school year, (8,046 to 8,015). The majority of provincial funding is based on student enrolment numbers. “We try to be a little bit conservative in our estimates,” Chipman said. “It is a lot easier to add staff and supports in the fall rather than take them away.” Staffing is expected to be near the same as those in 2017-18 levels, thanks in large part to the provincial government announcing it will keep the Classroom Improvement Fund for next year. As a result, Foothills will remain at approximately the same staffing levels, Chipman said. The division receives approximately $970,000 from the fund. Principals and division administrators will study the dollars and enrolment projections to determine school staffing. “The schools are coming up with the best way to allocate resources to provide services for students,” Chipman said. The division will study its numbers again when the final student count is done on Sept. 30. Alberta school boards have not received any additional funds in terms of their basic funding from the Province in the past two years. While status quo in funding is better than cuts, it doesn’t address inflation and increases in teachers’ salaries as they go up on the pay grid. Staffing makes up approximately 78 per cent of the division’s budget. The majority allocated for teachers. At present, Foothills division teachers do not have a contract for the 2018-19 school year. Chipman doesn’t anticipate a major change to school fees. However, fees will vary regarding what a student is taking. For example, students taking shop classes, drama and planning to go on international trips will pay more than those taking basic classroom courses. Last school year, the provincial government announced it would cover school fees or instructional supplies — such as textbooks, workbooks — and busing fees for students living the required distance from their school. That will continue. “We have a year under our belt to know what those fees look like,” Chipman said. “There are no blanket fees that parents are going to have to pay for every student. It is based on specific things.” Rookie team The 2018-19 budget was the first passed by the present all-rookie board. Rookies but not unfamiliar with dollars, cents and education. “It was a priority to learn about the budget and to understand the process by Alberta Education and Foothills School Division as well,” said Foothills chairman Larry Albrecht. The trustees were given workshops since being elected in October on the budget process. “We had a lot of good discussions on various parts of the budget — from the operating to the capital, to the reserves,” Albrecht said. “We did due diligence making sure it was a priority of learning. When we approved the budget we had a sense of what is involved.” He said as trustees they understood the complexity of the situation. “I applaud my trustees for putting in that extra-time to make sure we put in the due diligence of the responsibility of what we had to do.” He said the trustees all had direct input in the budget. “It is a direct yes — we asked a variety of pointed questions,” Albrecht said. “We asked for changes to be made. We had lots of good meaningful input. “I think one of the things the executive team would tell you is this is not a board that is rubber-stamping. We are being very responsible with the trust the public has put on us.” He said the trustees all bring aspects of education and business to the table. The trustees are Bill Young, Sharon Nichols, Albrecht, Theresa Letendre and Jenn Kristiansen. Young, Nichols, Albrecht and Letendre all are former teachers. Kristiansen brings plenty of business experience, Albrecht said.
