The Rocky View School Board has approved a $250-million budget for the 2016/2017 school year.
According to a release from the school division, the budget– a $10-million increase compared to last year – prioritizes direct classroom instruction, inclusive education, specialized services for students with complex needs, and balanced literacy, numeracy, and 21st century skills.
Multiple changes were made to this year’s budget to accommodate the number of students the school district currently serves.
“Overall, we’re looking at enrollment increases of about four per cent which means more services added at our schools, including the new ones. So there will be more teachers and support staff,” said Karyn Golem, director of finance with the school division.
Changes to the budget from last year include an increase of $5.2 million for the instructional budget, which equates to the hiring of 32 new elementary and junior high teachers and 13 new high school teachers. The new staff will be placed within existing schools and schools just opening within the division.
“The division is also adding a second multi-disciplinary support team which is for those complex learners and we will be providing those services to Cochrane, which we have done in the past. But now we will have two teams so we can enhance that service for our schools,” Golem explained.
The budget also allocated an additional six per cent for transportation within the school district. This is due partially to the opening of the RancheView School in the Sunset community.
“The school in Sunset will be opening this fall and busing will be provided to them. The enrollments for those are not finalized yet, that will be done in the fall, but it will have an impact on the services provided to Cochrane schools,” Golem said.
Transportation fees will be increased for students as well.
“Specifically for busing, fees were raised this year to accommodate operating deficits in the transportation department. For urban students, it’s an increase of $10 per student and for rural it’s $20 per student. It’s just to equalize the rural to urban bus fees,” Golem said.
The school district will also be implementing a literacy and numeracy framework through the 21 Century Learning initiative. According to the division’s release, $240,000 has been allocated within the budget for resource funding to implement this framework.
“So each of our areas, one of them being Cochrane, will have a literacy support teacher that will be servicing the school and making sure that framework is being undertaken according to the division’s priorities. Additional dollars have been put forth to allow for teacher relief time, supplies, and making sure our schools are on board and knowledgeable about that framework,” Golem explained.
For more information about Rocky View School Division’s 2016/2017 budget, visit rockyview.ab.ca/home/media-room/mediaroom.
