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By Eli J. Ridder

EDUCATION

Medicine Hat school board funding cut by province

May 22, 2024 | 4:16 PM

Medicine Hat is among several school boards that will receive funding cuts from the Alberta government for the next school year.

The Medicine Hat Public School Division will see over $1 million less during the 2024-25 term, a cut of 1.4 per cent, the Alberta Teachers’ Association announced Wednesday.

Schools in communities such as Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, Okotoks and several others will likely experience larger class sizes and program cuts when school starts in the fall as a result of these cuts, according to the teachers’ association.

The association, or ATA, said the school jurisdiction funding profiles posted by the province on May 6 show the cuts.

The ATA said the profiles show that 13 boards in the province will see a funding decrease but it’s Medicine Hat’s public board that is receiving the sharpest cut in dollar amount and the second-highest cut by per cent.

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Association president Jason Shilling was unimpressed by the announcement.

“There is no excuse in our growing, wealthy province to have funding cuts for public education,” Shilling said in a statement.

“Year after year after year, school board funding has failed to keep up with inflation and enrolment growth and as a result, we now have the lowest per-pupil spending on education in all of Canada.”