No layoffs coming to Calgary Board of Education: report

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – It appears the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) won’t be laying off hundreds of teachers in the new year.

Last month, the CBE said it needed to cut more than 300 temporary contracts to deal with a $32 million shortfall in provincial funding.

READ MORE: Three hundred teaching jobs to be cut by CBE

However, in a budget note sent to trustees ahead of Tuesday’s board meeting, Superintendent Christopher Usih says they’ll be using $15 million dollars in maintenance funding to keep the 317 teachers for the rest of the school year.

Last week, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange allowed the CBE to use the money for frontline services.

WATCH: Creative use of funds by the Calgary Board of Education

The remaining funds will be used to moderate the impact of fee increases and eliminate the need for changes related to student transportation.

Bob Cocking with the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) says while he’s happy no teachers will be laid off, this does not address long term concerns.

“This was totally avoidable and unnecessary. This has all come about from the fact that they didn’t receive the full funding that they were under the assumption of getting because they were told that they were receiving the same or better,” said Cocking.

“They had to find a way to get a balanced budget this current year without going into a deficit because school boards aren’t allowed to go into that deficit.”

A $32-million shortfall is not easy to make up, but Cocking says most boards are actually more concerned for next year’s budget.

“We know that this year the Calgary Board of Education had 2,400 new students this year. If that were to continue, even at 2,000 students, for next year, on a flat budget, that does not bring more teachers in. That just means that teachers need to do more and class sizes will be larger next year. And it will continue to be that way because it sounds like it will be flat funding for the next few years.”

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He said each year will be increasingly difficult and the budget will get tighter and tighter.

He says the ATA hopes that the government will address main concerns–like enrollment growth, reducing class sizes, and special education supports–when it introduces a new funding model in the new year.

The CBE won’t comment on the note until after Tuesday’s meeting.

-with files from Craig Lester