School board faces 165 job cuts

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The Calgary Board of Education is thinking about cutting as much as 165 full-time jobs to lower its estimated shortfall in up coming year's spending budget down to $29.5 million.

Even soon after the possible cuts and a plan to use up $19.1 million in operating reserves, Calgary's public institution board will still face a $10.4-million deficit for the coming school year, according to an early spring staffing document presented to trustees on Tuesday.

"We will need to consider (reducing) between 125 and 165 positions," acknowledged chief superintendent Naomi Johnson.

The achievable task cuts are estimates at present, as it can be as much as individual university principals to produce teacher and support staff hiring decisions, mentioned Johnson.

"Until we know what the principals have made a decision, we don't know any hard numbers. However, we know it is a tough yr and that most of our colleges is going to be impacted," she said.

The CBE has around 6,200 full-time equivalent teachers.

Calgary Public Teachers Association vice-president Al Engelhardt said it's frustrating that college boards are getting put in the position to even must look at teacher cuts.

The province signed a five-year labour agreement with all Alberta teachers ending in 2012.

But college boards happen to be informed by Alberta Education they will need to find income in their very own budgets to cover an expected 2.92 per cent salary enhance owed to all teachers this fall.

"I'm not blaming the board here," Engelhardt stated from the proposed career cuts.

"It's disappointing the government isn't going to fully fund the increases. So our board, what can they do? They're short."

The district will look to create any employment reductions by means of attrition primary. But it is too soon to say if there is going to be sufficient staff retiring or resigning this year to avoid layoffs, mentioned Johnson.

"The sad part is what if our board has to lay these teachers off and sometime in July, August or September the authorities comes via with the income. How traumatic is that on teachers, on colleges and on programs," said Engelhardt.

This isn't the initial time in recent weeks that Calgary-area teachers have heard talk of layoffs.

The Calgary Catholic School District has already warned parents it might be forced to trim at least 150 full-time jobs, primarily by means of attrition, to produce up for an estimated $15.3-million shortfall in their price range future 12 months.

But this latest funding debate at the CBE demonstrates the reversal of fortunes experienced by most Alberta classes boards over the past 12 months.

Last June, the CBE passed a $992.2-million spending budget which included 70 more full-time equivalent teachers, 23 new non-teaching staff and $7 million more than three many years for career and technologies studies.

Since then there has been a $44-million clawback of PC Pro Schools board savings, government grants have flatlined, and now districts are becoming told to find the cash for future year's teacher salary increases themselves.

Education Minister Dave Hancock has said classes boards must use their savings and avoid cutting teaching positions given that institution enrolments are set to rise across Alberta in the coming years.

But the government has put school boards in a "no-win situation" by backing away from funding their own teachers' agreement, reported Calgary-Varsity MLA Harry Chase.

"It's absolutely ridiculous that this is happening," Chase explained while attending Tuesday's college board meeting.

"The province has $15 billion left in the sustainability fund. If they do not view education as an investment, what is?"

The mention of work cuts also comes as the CBE anticipates it's going to welcome an additional 511 students this fall, generating concerns that class sizes will rise.

The CBE lost $4.9 million in authorities grants to minimize class sizes for next year because of changes in how the grant is applied to university boards.

"We are working to the greatest extent probable to maintain (class sizes) at the kindergarten to Grade three level," mentioned Johnson.

Select career and technologies courses for junior higher and high university students could also benefit from limited class size reduction funding, she reported.

But classrooms for older students will surely expand, said Engelhardt.

"It's worrying," explained Laura Shutiak, president with the Calgary Association of Parents and University Councils.

With approximately 200 schools in the CBE, there's a possibility of one fewer teaching position at each and every institution, she mentioned.

But the cuts could have been much worse if the CBE hadn't made a decision to contemplate a $10.4-million deficit, Shutiak explained.

"From a provincial price range that was supposed to have no education cuts, that's not the reality," she explained.

"It will have an effect on the classroom."

Trustees aren't expected to make any final funding decisions until following a preliminary operating spending budget is presented on June 1.