Good News Items
- Board Chair Karen Packard congratulated Abigail Britton from J.A. Williams High School in Lac La Biche on receiving a 2025 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Student Award. Abigail was one of nine recipients of the award this year.
- Board Chair Packard congratulated Trustees Mandi Skogen and Debra Lozinski on being recognized for 12 years of service at the Public School Boards' Association of Alberta awards ceremony last week. Packard and Trustee Ron Young were also recognized for eight years of service.
- Trustee Ron Young congratulated Board Chair Karen Packard and Clayton Bellamy on an amazing presentation at the Public School Boards' Association of Alberta conference. Their presentation showcased the transformation of the gymnasium at Bonnyville Centralized High School into the new Strathcona Performing Arts Centre and the partnership between the school division, the Clayton Bellamy Foundation for the Arts, and the community partners who contributed to the project.
- Trustee Mandi Skogen highlighted her participation in Cold Lake Junior High's recent career fair, as well as the school's Grade 9 farewell event. She commented on the quality of the students' questions during the career fair presentations and excellent video created for the farewell ceremony.
- Trustee Debra Lozinski commended the Northern Lights Outreach Schools staff for their dedication to inclusion and the wonderful graduation ceremony held at Crossroads Outreach School recently.
2024 Friends of Education Award: Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement Council
The Board presented a 2024 Friends of Education Award to the Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement Council in recognition of their ongoing support for students at Caslan School and Crossroads Outreach School, as well as their steadfast advocacy for a school to be built on the settlement. Buffalo Lake is the only Métis Settlement in the province without a school. In March, the project received provincial pre-planning funding, and the Council and NLPS Board of Trustees are now looking forward to advancing the project to the next phase.
Art Smith Aviation Academy School Calendar
Trustees approved a change in the school calendar at Art Smith Aviation Academy to allow staff time to pack up their classrooms and prepare the school for cadets to move in for programming over the summer. Students will finish school one day early, on Wednesday, June 25th. Staff will pack up on the 26th for cadets to move in on the 27th.
2025-2026 Budget
Secretary-Treasurer Paula Elock provided the Board with an overview of the final draft of the 2025-2026 budget, which needs to be submitted to Alberta Education by June 20th. She explained that due to not receiving anticipated funding from the federal government through Jordan's Principle, the division's planned deficit of $4.7 million for the 2024-2025 school year would now be closer to $7 million. This will deplete the division's reserves and leave it a negative financial position heading into next year. By ministerial order, the division is required to hold a minimum of 1% (approximately $850,000) in reserves, so the division needs to record a surplus in 2025-2026 to start replenishing reserves to that level.
Cost reduction measures focused first on areas that did not impact staffing, such as contracted services and supplies. This resulted in an initial 10% decrease in spending, but that was offset by inflationary cost increases in areas such as transportation, utilities, licensing, and insurance, which resulted in an overall reduction of 5% in that area. Overall, $2.9 million in cost reductions were identified in areas such as supplies, purchased services, subsistence, mileage, and travel.
Revenues are expected be lower next year, primarily due to the changes in Jordan's Principle funding. Total revenues next year are expected to be just over $90 million, with $83.6 million coming from the provincial government.
At the end of the 2025-2026 year the division expects to remain below the minimum required reserves by approximately $1.3 million. Elock noted that the division will need to provide Alberta Education with a plan to bring reserves back up to the required level. She also noted that administration will continues to identify areas where cost reductions could be made in future years.
The Board is also continuing to advocate for approval of its Jordan's Principle application for 2024-2025 which was anticipated to provide the division with $7 million in funding. The division has still not received any indication of whether that application and the associated will be approved, partially approved, or rejected. In addition, the Board has asked Indigenous Services Canada for clarity regarding changes to the criteria for Jordan's Principle applications in 2025-2026. While the division plans to submit an application, no anticipate revenue has been included in the 2025-2026 budget.