Education ministry says funding for MHPSD won’t decrease

By Samantha Johnson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on March 28, 2023.

The Medicine Hat Public School Division had a meeting last week with temporary and probationary contract teachers last week. The meeting was concerning the possibility of fewer teachers being employed for the 2023-24 school year and to give them time to explore other opportunities should they not be able to secure a position within MHPSD.

The News published a story on March 23 titled “Lost funding means fewer MHPSD teachers” regarding the reasons why the division held the meeting. The story cited, provincial funding for the education system, and on Saturday, the News received an email from Emily Peckham, press secretary to Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange, to clarify funding allocated to MHPSD.

Peckham’s email states, “Minister LaGrange has met with the Medicine Hat Public School Division several times on this matter, and she remains concerned about their initial budget assumptions.

“Yesterday, the minister formally asked her department to assess and confirm the accuracy of the board’s budget assumptions and return with an update. No staffing decisions are to be made before the review is completed.

“Medicine Hat Public School Division is experiencing declining enrolment of approximately 400 students. Despite this, funding has been maintained and Medicine Hat Public is projected to receive the same funding next school year as they did this year.”

The statement was also sent to MHPSD. In response, board chair Catherine Wilson issued the following statement.

“We have been pleased with the open and collaborative spirit of the conversations we have had with Minister LaGrange in our discussions about the 2023-2024 budget. We have every confidence that, together, we will meet our shared goal of continuing to provide excellent service to Medicine Hat’s students.”

Upon further inquiries regarding the “hold harmless” funding, Peckham responded with the following statement.

“Funding for Medicine Hat Public School Division has been maintained and they are projected to receive the same funding next school year as they did this year. While COVID mitigation funding (also known as hold harmless funding) is not continuing, that funding has been put back into the funding model in the form of grant rate increases and a limited amount of stabilization funding.”

For the next school year, there will be increases in, among others, the Base Instruction Grant (6%), Specialized Learning Supports (10%) and School Nutrition Grant (20%).

“In addition,” continued Peckham, “stabilization funding was allocated to support several school authorities, which like MHPSD have experienced a decline in enrolment and would otherwise receive less funding to reflect the reduction of students in their divisions – this stabilization funding ensures funding levels do not decrease.”

MHPSD sent the following statement to the News.

“We will be happy to provide a comment on the budget once we have completed our full review.”