Calgary’s two major school boards were thrilled they were getting much-needed cash to handle “unprecedented” growth in the number of students.
The Alberta government announced that it would be adding $30 million to help school authorities across the province deal with enrolment growth. School boards in the province will get an additional $1,500 per student for actual enrolment growth between zero and 100 students, and $2,000 per student for growth exceeding 100 students.
“Alberta continues to attract people from across Canada and around the world,” said Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides.
“We’ve seen many newcomers to Alberta in recent months, meaning more kids registering in our schools. We know schools are facing enrolment pressures, so we are providing school authorities with more funding to better support schools and students.”
The Calgary Board of Education said they’ve added 7,000 new students this fall, raising total enrolment to 138,000 students. They said they expect an additional 2,000 students to be added throughout the year. The CBE was unable to provide a breakdown of which schools they expected to receive the provincial windfall.
“We are grateful that the government is responding to the historic enrolment growth and increasing complexity across CBE schools,” a statement attributed to CBE chair Laura Hack read.
“The funding announced today will enable us to hire additional teachers and school-based staff to support students.
The CBE also said their student population is becoming increasingly diverse, with more than 40,000 students identified as English as Additional Language Learners.
“We will continue to work with government and community partners to find solutions in the best interest of students and their learning needs,” read an emailed statement.
“We will remain responsive to provide students with the support they need when they need it.”
New Canadian students enrolling
Funding from the government will be allocated in December they said, through a supplemental growth grant. They’ve modified the grant so that all school boards seeing growth can qualify for the grant.
Previously, the grant was only provided if they had enrolment growth of more than two per cent.
It’s worth noting that while most school boards provide an annual update on school utilization, a recent Alberta NDP motion (Bill 202) would have required public reporting of class sizes and their composition. They wanted to see reporting on the number of students requiring specialized support, plus English language learners.
“Providing this transparency for parents and students goes beyond simply the number of students in each class,” said Calgary-Beddington MLA Amanda Chapman, who is that party’s critic for Services to Children with Disabilities.
“A classroom is a complex environment and in order to give all children the opportunity to succeed, we need to prioritize support for kids with complex needs.”
The CBE said that in the 2022-2023 school year, they witnessed a “significant rise” in the number of non-Canadian students who registered. At the beginning of the school year, their Welcome Centre registered 7,771 non-Canadian citizen students. That influx required additional support through their Literacy, English and Academic Development (LEAD) classes.
“As our system continues to grow, we are committed to adapting to the changing needs of schools and refugee students requiring specialized support,” they said.
The Calgary Catholic School Board said they also have seen student populations spike.
“The Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) is experiencing unprecedented growth—enrolment has increased from 58,866 students in September 2022, to 61,584 students in September 2023, an increase of 4.6 per cent, and we continue to welcome new students,” they said.
“As the largest publicly funded Catholic school district in Alberta, we are grateful for additional government funding to support the diverse needs of our growing student population.”
