Facing high costs and enrolment, CCSD pulls $21.5 million in reserves

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Struggling with rising costs and growing enrolment, Catholic schools will have to pull $21.5 million out of district reserves to make up for an operating deficit they blame on provincial underfunding.

“The level of funding provided by the province falls substantially short of meeting the needs of our students,” said Shannon Cook, board chair for the Calgary Catholic School District.

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“The CCSD has seen significant enrolment growth year over year without appropriate funding to address the growth. In preparing this budget, the CCSD balanced rising costs, inflationary pressures and insufficient funding.

“Very difficult decisions were made regarding the allocation of limited resources to support our students’ needs, while still ensuring they receive high-quality learning opportunities.”

Cook added that the board, in response to feedback from CCSD families, will continue to advocate for “sustainable and adequate funding to provide students with the additional resources, staff, and space that are urgently needed.”

For 2024-2025, the district is budgeting $688.5 million in revenues, a 5.8 per cent increase from last year, and $710 million in expenditures — a 6.3 per cent increase in comparison to the prior year’s budget.

The resulting $21.5 million deficit is funded using district savings.

Still, officials say the district will continue to add teachers and education assistants to classrooms, support increasing complexities in student profiles and invest in technology.

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CCSD facing unprecedented enrolment growth

Much like the Calgary Board of Education, which is facing a $2.6-million deficit in its operating budget for next year, CCSD has seen unprecedented enrolment growth in the past few years.

The district anticipates enrolment to grow by 3.3 per cent next year — or more than 2,000 new students — by the end of September 2024, and that’s in addition to last year’s growth of 2,730 students, a 4.6 per cent increase.

Officials with Alberta Education have insisted the province has provided historically high funding to school boards across Alberta in this spring’s UCP budget — providing $9.3 billion to K-12 education.

That includes $842 million over the next three years to support growth in schools, bringing additional enrolment-based grants to $1.2 billion and helping hire 3,100 teachers, educational assistants and other school-based staff over the next three years.

CCSD officials said that funding from Alberta Education increased by $20.5 million from last year’s. But the province’s new “weighted moving average” funding model (which bases funding on projected enrolment rather than actual enrolment) still leaves 1,562 students unfunded in September 2024, equal to $13.8 million.

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And while that funding gap is partially offset by $4.2 million in Supplemental Enrolment growth grants, CCSD will still face $9.6 million in underfunding.

Officials added that CCSD also continues to face rising costs and reduced spending power due to inflation.

Over the past five years, costs have continued to rise, including those related to staffing, as well as utilities, by 51 per cent and insurance by 34 per cent.

However, provincial grant rates remained unchanged, CCSD said, and no increases were provided to offset inflation.

‘Our reserves will be significantly depleted’

The district’s budgeted operating reserves for August 2025, excluding school generated funds, are projected to be $10.6 million, representing approximately 1.5 per cent of annual expenses.

While within the provincial cap of 1.0 per cent to 6.0 per cent of annual expenses, officials say the district will be unable to sustain current spending levels by drawing upon savings in the future.

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“The use of district savings to balance this budget allows the CCSD to continue to provide high-quality Catholic education to our students,” said Acting Chief Superintendent John McDonald.

“While the district has been able to balance its budget for many years using savings, our reserves will be significantly depleted in this budget.

“Without an increase in funding and with dwindling reserves, the CCSD will be required to continue to make difficult operational decisions that will impact our students and families for the 2025-2026 school year and future years.”

CCSD is the largest Catholic school district in Alberta, serving 63,000 students in 118 schools located in Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere and Rocky View County.

eferguson@postmedia.com

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