The Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD) is no longer facing a funding shortfall after a surprise decision by MLA Robin Campbell to override a province-wide directive to freeze school boards’ reserve funds.
The finance minister’s sudden change of heart came after a scathing press release published by the board on Thursday.
In the release, the board of directors instructed administration to dip into its reserve fund to cover part of its $570,000 budget shortfall, despite conditions set out in the March 26 provincial budget that require school boards to get ministerial approval before they can access their reserves.
In an interview April 27, Campbell said GYPSD has the permission it needs.
“They’ve got about $3.2 million in reserves and they can utilize those reserves to get us through the year,” said the incumbent for West Yellowhead.
“I talked with the chair and the superintendent and said I was in full support of anything they had to do to make sure that they continue to offer the programming that needs to be offered.”
He said the government’s decision to freeze provincial school boards’ reserves was to pressure boards to get their administration costs under control. GYPSD’s administration costs are about 3.2 per cent of its entire budget, according to Campbell.
Although benefiting his own riding, Campbell’s one-off decision will not help other school boards across the province, such as the Calgary Board of Education, which is currently facing a $29.3 million shortfall.
“All I’m dealing with is Grande Yellowhead. The minister of education will deal with the broader picture, which he will bring to the Treasury Board,” said Campbell.
John Stitzenberger, chair of the board of directors for GYPSD, welcomed the news.
“Robin Campbell has always been very cooperative and supportive of our school board,” he said.
“I appreciate Mr. Campbell allowing us to access our reserves in this situation, but it still does not address the concern that the education minister froze all school boards’ reserves.”
Arlene Hrynyk, the president of the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta, echoed that sentiment.
“We are certainly pleased that Robin Campbell is concerned about the local impact in his community, but we would certainly encourage that direction be provided for all of our members,” she said.
“The fact that we require ministerial approval, which is unprecedented and has never occurred in the past, restricts our ability to manage the educational needs for the districts we were in fact elected to represent.
“We really hope that the government and the minister of education reverses that decision and allows us the local autonomy to meet the needs of our students.”
Legally school boards must balance their budgets every year.
As a result, boards across the province are considering two options: implementing massive cuts or ignoring the government’s directive and using their reserve funds to make up for the funding shortfall in the provincial budget.
Prior to Campbell’s decision, the GYPSD board had directed staff to utilize $540,000 in reserves to maintain as many services and programs as possible for students next year. Even with the injection from the reserve fund, the school board still needs to find $30,000 through internal efficiencies.
Services such as funding for First Nations, Metis and Inuit outreach programs and early learning programs were on the chopping block, but will now be saved.
Stuart Taylor, the Wildrose candidate for West Yellowhead, said his party supports boards utilizing their own resources and supports the idea of decentralizing decision making.
“The idea that a school board in need of a new boiler, for example, should be compelled to go hat-in-hand to the province, seeking permission to spend its own reserve funds, is an odd proposal, seemingly reflective of a desire to control rather than a desire for effective facilitation,” he said in an email statement.
Eric Rosendahl, the NDP candidate for the West Yellowhead riding, shared a similar message.
“We were extremely concerned about the cuts that the PC budget made to education,” said Rosendahl in an email.
“If elected, we would allow boards to access their reserves, but we believe they should not have to because they should have the money they need to educate Alberta’s children.”
Paul Clarke
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