Media Release: BRSD Budget 2024-2025
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BRSD Budget 2024-2025
Each spring, school divisions across the province receive their budget allocations from Alberta Education. The Board of Battle River School Division (BRSD) has approved the 2024-25 instruction budget. The remainder of the budget will be approved later in May 2024.
For the 2024-25 school year, BRSD is allocated $69,734,768 from Alberta Education. This indicates a decrease from the current year where we were allocated $70,243,045. Our mission of Every Student, Every Day, a Success, is evident in budget planning. This year, 86 per cent of the division’s instruction budget was allocated to schools. In addition, we are currently using $2.9 million of our reserves to support staffing in our schools.
School divisions are funded by the government in five grant allocations: base instruction, services and supports, schools, community and jurisdiction. Over and above these five categories of grant funding, we have received an additional $2,965,052 in our budget from Alberta Education for stabilization. This was to support our division budgeting from a change in the previous funding model to the new funding model, what is now called the weighted moving average (WMA). Since implementation of the stabilization funding, the government has been transparent that this stabilization money would not continue.
For 2024-25, we will lose 25 per cent of the stabilization allocation ($741,263), and each year thereafter, we will continue to lose that amount until 2027-28 where the total reduction of the stabilization funds, $2,965,052, are removed from our budget. At this time, we will only receive grants in each of the five categories.
Next year, we will continue to use $2.9 million of our reserve funds to support staffing in our schools. Additionally, we continue to increase our allocations of our instruction budget to schools, with 87.55 per cent of the division’s instruction budget allocated to schools.
We are fortunate that over the past three years, BRSD’s enrolment has slightly increased. Our projected enrolment for the next school year is 5840, and in 2023-24 our September 30th enrolment was 5812.