After mid-year budget cuts seeing $32 million in funding slashed by the province, the Calgary Board of Education has approved an updated budget that sees cuts to overall funding and a hike in transportation fees.
A total of $48 million in annualized savings were needed to make up the difference, CBE Chief Superintendent Christopher Usih said in a statement issued Thursday evening.
“The updated fall BAR (Budget Assumptions Report) outlines the areas in which we plan to find budget reductions of approximately $48 million in annualized savings to balance the budget over the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year,” Usih said.
The board will reduce $22 million in overall funding allocated to 246 schools — a 2.5 per cent cut — that will see the elimination of some temporary employee contracts and staff redeployment.
Cuts worth two to 10 per cent will be made to overall administration through service unit reductions, Usih said, adding that a reduction to planned capital spending to the tune of $5 million will also take place.
Due to the elimination of $8 million in transportation funding, Usih said there will be an increase in transportation fees mid-year for yellow school bus riders, allowing the board to maintain overall service levels for 2019-20.
Usih also said a spending freeze has been put in place unless it impacts safety, security, or legal compliance.
“The revised school budget allocations will be sent to all principals on November 14 so that principals can make required changes,” Usih said in the statement, adding direct staff impacts are not expected until January. “We will continue to prioritize staff over non-essential goods. Not all cuts will look the same; impacts may be different for some schools and service units due to a variety of factors.”
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Last week, Bob Cocking, president of Calgary Public Teachers, ATA Local 38, criticized the cuts.
“It is unprecedented to see something like this happen midway through a school year,” Cocking told Postmedia. “The process will be very disruptive.
“We are going to see the loss of teacher-student relationships. We will see the loss of special supports for the students that need them. The overall quality of education will go down.”
But Education Minister Adriana LaGrange struck back at CBE, also saying last week a board with a budget of $1.2 billion and 130,000 students needs to find further efficiencies by cutting administrative costs, dipping into reserves or hiking school fees.
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Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
