School Boards Receive Budget Targets

The province today, Feb. 10, gave Nova Scotia's school boards budget targets that put students and learning first while recognizing continued declining student enrolments. The funding targets invest in the classroom and protect special education and other priorities.

Education Minister Ramona Jennex said boards are expected to find savings of 1.3 per cent on average, or $13.4 million, on a $1.1 billion budget.

Again this year, per student funding will increase and average class sizes should decline. The 1.3 per cent is less than the savings the province required boards to find last year.

Enrolments in the province will drop this year by more than 2,200 students, or 1.7 per cent. Boards continue to have some fixed costs even as student numbers decline, so budget targets are less than percentage drops for student enrolment.

Conseil scolaire acadien provincial's (CSAP) enrolment is increasing. As a result, it will see a budget increase.

Students will benefit from an additional $6.7 million in targeted investments in the multi-year Kids and Learning First plan, supporting priorities such as skilled trades.

"Kids and Learning First is about protecting the quality of education in Nova Scotia, as enrolments continue to decline," said Ms. Jennex. "The province will continue to invest significantly in the success of our children, while living within our means."

In a letter to board chairs, the minister outlined conditions for boards as they plan their budgets:

• The province is increasing the allocation for special education, including supports for children with autism, by $12.2 million
• School boards will achieve reductions in teaching positions through enrolment decline and retirements. This is expected to keep the student-teacher ratio at its current rate of 12.9-1, which is the lowest in a generation
• The province is maintaining the cap on class size from Primary to Grade 3. Boards will have the flexibility to adjust the cap by two students per class, compared to the cap in 2011-12, to avoid combined classes when appropriate
• Savings in administration continue to be the priority. Boards must continue efforts to reduce board consultants by 50 per cent by 2013-14

Individual school board allocations will vary depending on their enrolment decline and the funding formula. The province is protecting boards with the sharpest enrolment drops by capping reductions at 2.1 per cent. Boards, like all departments and agencies, must manage wage and inflation costs.

"The targets provided today will allow boards to focus this significant investment on children and learning," said Ms. Jennex. "It will allow boards to once again match funding to the numbers and needs of students, and deliver on the province's plan for education, Kids and Learning First."

The Kids and Learning First plan announced last week expands online education, co-op, early literacy programming, and skilled trades. It also includes a new math curriculum, support for students with special needs, more opportunities for junior high students who struggle, and more learning time for math and literacy.

Between 2000-01 and 2010-11, funding for school boards increased by more than $320 million or 43 per cent, even as enrollment dropped by almost 30,000 students.