The Canadian Rockies Public School division (CRPS) is facing a $300,000 shortfall after the provincial government opted to hold fast on its plan to adjust its funding formula for students from Grade 10-12.
The Canadian Rockies Public School division (CRPS) is facing a $300,000 shortfall after the provincial government opted to hold fast on its plan to adjust its funding formula for students from Grade 10-12.
Chris MacPhee, superintendent for CRPS, was hoping the government would lift the credit enrolment cap it imposed last year when it tabled the provincial budget on March 22, but his lobbying efforts seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
As a result, he said CRPS will likely stop accepting students from outside the school division for its outdoor education program to make up for the lost funding. Other programs are also likely to be scaled back, such as the division's dual credit program and the number of courses offered at summer school.
"We are at a time where we are analyzing whether we will continue to offer all the options we have in place," said MacPhee, referring to the various programs and courses offered to students throughout the year.
"We will not close the Outdoor Learning Centre, but we are considering right now whether to stop offering programs to students outside of our school division."
Currently, high schools are funded based on the number of credit enrollment units (CEU) a student takes each year.
In previous years, the province funded high schools based on a 60 CEU cap, however, that cap was reduced to 45 CEUs per student for the 2017/18 school year. The cap will remain in place for 2018/2019.
As a result, the province is no longer paying for students who decide to take more courses than they need, leaving school divisions to pick up the tab to cover the cost of programs they take.
According to MacPhee, students at CRPS regularly surpass the 45 CEU limit, thanks to programs such as outdoor education and the dual credit program. In the past, CRPS used these programs to help generate additional revenue to support other initiatives and programs.
In January, the province told the Outlook that the average student earns 37 CEUs per year and that more than two-thirds of high schools in the province have not been affected by the changes.
MLA Cam Westhead said he is aware of the financial challenges CRPS is facing and acknowledged the funding formula isn't perfect.
"Minister Eggen acknowledged that the funding formula that's out there, the per student funding formula, isn't necessarily working for all schools," said Westhead, who attended the Alberta Rural Education Symposium in Edmonton several weeks ago.
"He was very open and honest with school administrations that it's something that we will have to solve together. There's no easy answer right now, but it's something that we want to look at and try to address that problem."
He said one possible solution includes using the average number of CEUs per student over the course of the students' education, rather than just taking a snapshot of the number of CEUs in any given year.
"I just learned more about that recently and it's something I want to explore with CRPS, to see if that's a solution," said Westhead.
Compounding matters, MacPhee said the division is also seeing a decline in enrolment, which has dropped by about 20 or 30 students.
"We are funded by enrolment, so when you have an enrolment decline or you have a credit cap that's put in place, then we start to run into some major challenges," said MacPhee.
He described the decline as a "bubble" because there are more Grade 12s graduating than new students enrolling.
Despite facing a funding shortfall, MacPhee isn't giving up.
"We're looking at our Outdoor Learning Centre a little differently then just a centre that offers credits to students," said MacPhee.
Part of his pitch to the provincial government is asking the government to view the Outdoor Learning Centre as part of the Alberta Distance Learning Centre, a government funded organization that provides long-distance educational courses to primary and secondary students.
"We know we want our students to have experiential learning opportunities outside the classroom, which is no different than distance learning opportunities," said MacPhee.
As part of the provincial budget tabled on March 22, the government committed to spending $8.4 billion for education in 2018-19, keeping its commitment to fund enrolment growth, projected at 2.2 per cent in 2018-19.
The government also earmarked $16 million to expand the province's nutrition program for Kindergarten to Grade 6 students, including an additional $25,000 for CRPS, according to MacPhee.
The new funding brings the total budget for CRPS's nutrition program to $275,000.
