Public school division receives funding for classroom supports

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 19, 2026.

newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com

The Medicine Hat Public School Division has received funding from the province to support growing complexities in the classroom.

The school division has received funding for eight new classroom complexity teams that will support elementary aged students.

Each team will consist of one teacher and two educational assistants that will provide in-class support in schools within the division and enhance support for students’ needs.

This support includes academic, behavioural, social and emotional, as well as helping students learn English, helping manage disruptive students and providing in-class assistance to teachers.

The teams will help identify student needs early and will bring in additional specialists when needed.

“By integrating these teams directly into elementary environments, schools can identify challenges at the earliest possible stage, preventing minor delays from becoming permanent learning barriers,” reads a release.

The funding is part of a new investment announced Feb. 12 of $143 million to establish a total of 476 complexity teams across the province.

“We said we would use better data to make better decisions and that is exactly what we are doing,” said Premier Danielle Smith. “We will keep taking practical, evidence-based action to make that a reality across Alberta.”

The province says new data gathered from more than 89,000 classrooms shows average class sizes in Alberta are “largely within acceptable ranges,” however the data confirms that classroom composition and complexity is growing rapidly.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says the new funding is targeted especially at younger school aged children to address issues before they become larger problems.

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