News Releases
March 25, 2004

New funding framework better for school boards and students

Edmonton... A new funding framework will be put into place this coming school year to help school boards better meet the unique needs and priorities of their students and communities.

Under the new framework, the funding school boards receive will vary according to their specific circumstances, taking into account cost pressures that are due to factors beyond their control.

"Large urban boards face challenges associated with having a large mix of students with a wide variety of special needs, while many rural boards face challenges around transportation costs, declining enrolment and geography," said Learning Minister Dr. Lyle Oberg. "This new funding framework recognizes that one size does not fit all and ensures funding consistency and fairness across the province."

The new framework provides base funding according to general enrolment, plus differential funding for special needs students, English-as-a-Second-Language students, aboriginal students, students of low socio-economic status, large enrolment growth and decline, northern allowance, small schools by necessity, geographically large jurisdictions, and cost of living.

Additional stabilization funding is also being provided to some boards this year to ensure all boards receive at least a 2% increase in their operating budgets in 2004-05 (assuming no change in enrolment). Many boards will see an increase significantly more than 2% in recognition of their unique circumstances.

As part of the new funding framework, school boards are being given increased flexibility to decide what to do with the dollars they receive to address local needs and priorities. Under the old framework, boards were required to use specific funding for specific purposes. With the new framework, boards will be able to use all funding received according to their priorities, with the exception of funding provided specifically for the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement, the Student Health Initiative, and SuperNet.

"School boards have been asking for increased flexibility since we implemented the original funding framework in 1995," said Oberg. "This new framework recognizes school boards have unique needs and challenges and allows them to choose where to spend the dollars they receive."

With this increased flexibility, government has put into place a strong accountability process to ensure boards are accountable for achieving certain education results, which they will be required to publicly report to their communities.

The new framework, which was recommended by a committee of government representatives and stakeholders, comes into effect on September 1, 2004. With Budget 2004, ongoing support for the Kindergarten to Grade 12 learning system will be more than $250 million higher than last budget year. Total support to school boards in 2004-05 will be $3.36 billion.

Backgrounder

Renewed Funding Framework

The intention of the new funding framework is to simplify the funding process, ensure equitable funding to all jurisdictions, and provide jurisdictions flexibility in addressing their local needs and priorities. The new framework provides funding to school boards based on the premise that, over and above the base costs of operations, jurisdictions should receive funding for significant cost factors that are beyond their control and which vary across jurisdictions.

Base funding

This funding provides for the kinds of common instruction-related costs all school jurisdictions face. Per student funding will be provided to every full time equivalent Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) student.

Differential cost funding

Student Population
The first part of the differential cost funding will be provided to boards based on five factors:

  • Students with Severe Special Needs
  • English as a Second Language (ESL) and Francisation students
  • Percentage of the student population of a low socio-economic status
  • Number of Early Childhood Services children with mild or moderate disabilities
  • Aboriginal students, to provide for culturally appropriate programming

This funding will be distributed to jurisdictions based on a weighting factor applied to each student type. In future years, the weightings can be adjusted to reflect changes in the relative costs of delivering services to these students.

Unique Operating Environments
Differential cost funding will also be distributed using formulas designed to address the various cost factors that are associated with the specific environment each jurisdiction operates in:

Small Schools by Necessity

  • In order to qualify as a small school by necessity, a school must be located at a distance where transportation to another school is not practical (defined as 25 km by road in rural areas and 6 km in metro-urban and urban areas). If there are no schools within the minimum distance that can accommodate the additional students, due to capacity or grade level considerations, a school will be considered "necessary".
  • Funding is provided through two components:
    • Base Funding - provides a minimum funding base to recognize the base cost of running a small school; and
    • Variable Funding - recognizes the cost of providing services to students in small schools and is based on school enrolments.

Intra-Jurisdiction Distance

  • This funding recognizes the kinds of costs that are associated with providing service to students in geographically widespread areas, such as costs for transportation. Funding is based on student enrolment and the distance from the board's central office to each school.
  • Funding is provided if a school is more than 25 km away from the board office (15 km in the metro areas) and is paid out as $1 per student per km over 25 km.

Enrolment Growth

  • This funding recognizes the costs associated with the increasing enrolments experienced at the jurisdiction and the school level.
  • Jurisdictions experiencing enrolment increases in K-12 of more than 4% from year-to-year will receive one-time funding of $552 for each funded student over the 4% threshold.
  • Jurisdictions in which individual schools are experiencing enrolment increases in K-12 of more than 7% from year-to-year will receive one-time funding of $552 for each funded student over the 7% threshold.

Enrolment Decline

  • This funding recognizes that jurisdictions and schools with large enrolment decreases are faced with an immediate decline in revenues, while the costs of providing services may not decline proportionately.
  • At the jurisdiction level, a board will receive three-quarters of the base instruction rate (one-time) for every K-12 student below an enrolment decline of -1.5%.
  • At the school level, a jurisdiction will receive funding (one-time) for every K-12 student below an enrolment decline of -4%.

Small Board Administration

  • This funding is provided to small boards in the province that do not have a sufficient student base to provide adequate funding for their basic administrative needs.

Northern Allowance

  • This funding is intended to offset the higher cost of operations experienced by jurisdictions located in Alberta's north.
  • The northern part of the province has been divided into three zones. The further north the zone, the higher the per student allocation.

Relative Cost of Purchasing Goods and Services Adjustment (RCPA)

  • This funding is provided to reflect comparative price levels in an attempt to mirror differences in local costs between jurisdictions. This funding is provided to address the fact that it is more expensive to operate in some communities than others. For example, Fort McMurray has higher costs than Medicine Hat.
  • The adjustment is applied to 47% of transportation funding and 20% of all other funding (excluding provincial priorities) under the new profile.
  • The RCPA Index has been derived from information taken from a spatial price index developed by Alberta Economic Development and weighted based on student population.

Other Allocations

  • Transportation and Program Unit Funding will continue to be calculated in the same manner as they were under the old framework.
  • Contracted services (learning resources credit, regional assessment services, regional education consulting services and institutional support funding) will also continue to be funded in the same manner as they were in the old framework.

Provincial priorities

Targeted funding will be provided to school boards for identified provincial priorities: the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement, Student Health Initiative and SuperNet.