CBE budget preparations foreshadows a possible change in school fees
Posted Apr 24, 2014 5:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
As the Calgary Board of Education develops its next budget, Brad Grundy the board’s chief financial officer, is assuring parents no child will be denied an education, if they can’t afford school fees.
About 12 per cent of students currently in the system have school fees waived because of various reasons, like family income limitations.
The statement may serve as a heads up for parents as the CBE prepares to present its budget to school trustees on May 6th.
Grundy said they have depleted nearly their entire reserve fund in the current budget, hinting at a number of cost areas, like noon hour supervision and bussing students, that could contribute to changes in school fees.
“We are at a completely different place with regards to the capacity of our schools, so ideally we’d like to have a funding model that’s reflective of the reality that we’re already in, but we do the best we can with the dollars that we’re given,” said Grundy.
“There is an ongoing conversation with the province around the Transportation Funding Model. I was at an Alberta Schools Board Association meeting not that long ago with one of our trustees and she raised it as an issue. It’s been five years since we looked at this and I think it’s time and I think that’s a common theme for all of the metro boards.”
The CBE has not said an increase in school fees will, in fact, happen.
About 26,000 Calgary students use the yellow bus system to get to school with about 10,000 who take Calgary Transit, which is partly subsidized.
