SANDRA M STANWAY
Brooks Bulletin
Grasslands Public Schools will dip into their reserves to cover an anticipated deficit for the 2025-26 school year.
“Overall funding, although receiving some small grant rate increases, has not kept pace with the increases in costs including staffing,” states a news release.
The final budget before the election for the current board was passed on June 16.
According to a press release from Grasslands, expenses are expected to decrease by about $271,953 but there will be a deficit of $420,201.
The deficit will be covered by reserves including $33,568 from operating and $453,769 by the investment in tangible capital assets reserve.
The board has budgeted $51.915 million which is a reduction of $134,696 over last year.
Funding from Alberta Education is $46.720 million which is an increase of $288,002 over last year.
“Overall funding, although receiving some small grant rate increases, has not kept pace with the increases in costs including staffing,” states a press release.
“In order to keep our reserve balances at a sustainable level, the board has reviewed all areas of operations to find efficiencies and savings.”
The board wants to ensure that spending was done strategically so as not to reduce the impact of funding shortfalls.
“We understand that difficult decisions were made but without those decisions we would be putting the division in a financially unsustainable position.”
The province updated the 2020 education funding framework while keeping predictable funding to allow decisions to be made by school boards.
Through the update the province is using calculated grant funding that is based on enrollments across two school years, the current and following year, instead of a weighted average for three years.
This new method enables boards to plan and budget with confidence in their funding, rather than waiting for student counts.
Differences between actual and projected enrollments will be accounted for by the province in the next school year.
The school board predicts a decrease in enrollment of .8 per cent over last year or 30 students.
The division is projected to receive approximately 96 per cent of its funding from the province. The balance is from other sources including course option fees and materials.
Salaries and benefits for certified and support staff are budgeted to decrease by $459,007.
Instructional staffing levels will be decreased by 8.60 full time equivalent for certificated staff and decreased by 12.75 full time equivalent for support staff while other costs are expected to increase by $187,054.
The maximum adjusted operating reserves school boards can hold is six per cent of total expenses.