While only a week has passed since the provincial election, school divisions are wondering what the next government will bring.
For the first time in more than four decades, the Alberta Government is transitioning to a new ruling party. On Saturday, NDP leader Rachel Notley had her first caucus meeting and in the near future will be sworn in. This is new territory for the province, and for institutions that work with the provincial government.
“We are excited to work with the new government,” said Christ the Redeemer School Division Trustee Mark Chung.
On Tuesday morning, Premier Elect Rachel Notley did issue a statement on school budgets.
"I have asked that the outgoing Government of Alberta extend the school budget deadline by a month – to the end of June.
"The people of Alberta voted last week for a new government that is committed to funding enrollment growth properly. We will shortly take office and will address this matter as quickly as possible, in good time for the next school year," she said.
Before the election, the Prentice government passed a budget that has been described as tough on school divisions. It included lower funding not reflective of student population growth and now divisions have to get approval to use any contingency it has built.
“Like every board we had to evaluate and find cost savings wherever we could,” said Chung. “The superintendents did a review of all of our business units and made the cuts where it would not affect the overall health of the schools.”
With the new NDP government, Chung is not sure what to expect. He followed the election closely leading up to the vote.
“It’s a young group, so it’s wait and see,” said Chung. “We won’t know anything until they start making policy.”
According to the NDP’s election platform the party showed commitment to stable funding, reducing class sizes and ensuring classrooms have the people and resources needed. They also commit to phasing in all-day kindergarten as finances permit and take politics out of school construction.
Leading up to the election, Golden Hills School Division held a number of meetings throughout its jurisdiction to shed light on the challenges of Prentice’s budget. Golden Hills Board Chair Dave Price is also looking for answers.
“There are general statements that are certainly supportive, and we’re expecting some announcements on rollbacks of the cuts … we’re just waiting to see what that will actually look like.”
“We hope the opportunity is there to work with them. If we can, it will be useful all around,” said Price.
He said while Notley made some quick announcements in other areas, Price expects it will take some time to see what changes could come down the pipe for school divisions. This includes looking at who will be appointed minister.
“It’s still early days, but we really look forward to an opportunity to work with her,” said Price.
