Pembina Hills Public Schools (PHPS) trustees and school administrators are going to have to make some tough choices in the coming months.
Late last month, trustees approved a budget that will see them going into the hole.
Well, that isn’t entirely true.
In Alberta, school divisions are not allowed to have deficit budgets, unless they have sufficient funds stowed away to cover the shortfall. So in reality, while trustees approved an expected $1.531 million operating budget deficit, PHPS’s budget is balanced. They just had to dip into their reserves to do it.
The question is just how much longer can they do it before it impacts how the division operates and even more importantly, the quality of education students receive. This will be the fourth-straight year PHPS has dipped into its reserves to balance its budget.
According to secretary-treasurer Tracy Meunier, PHPS might not be able to do that for too many more times, stating that their reserves are getting close to their ‘comfort zone’.
So if the division is truly going to balance its yearly operational budget, it will need to do one of two things — cut its budget or increase revenue.
Unfortunately, school boards are limited in how they can raise funds. The vast majority of its funding comes from the province. More students equals more money.
However, as a rural school division, with declining student enrolment, a sudden increase in school populations and the funding that goes with it, seems unlikely.
The other revenue sources for school divisions are school fees and fundraising. The provincial government recently hampered schools ability to raise money by charging instructional fees. Mind you the loss of this revenue was offset by a $406,000 grant for the 2017-18 school year. If school divisions will continue to get this grant in future years is anyone’s guess.
Then there is the cutback route. And even here, the number of options are limited. Education is a people business with the majority of the expense being people — teachers, program assistants, and other various professionals. To deliver the curriculum you need a certain number of people. You can only cram so many students into a classroom and certified teaching staff’s pay and working conditions are largely regulated by the contract the province signed with the Alberta Teachers’ Association.
However, one thing that might be up for discussion in the future is providing free busing to parents if they want to enroll their children in alternative programming that isn’t available at their designated school, i.e. Christian education at Neerlandia Public Christian School or the French immersion program at Barrhead Elementary School.
Not that I am advocating for such a move, but when faced with a deficit situation as PHPS is facing now, everything is open for discussion.
