2025-2026 Spring Budget Release
The Board approved a balanced budget of just over $95m for 2025-2026. While Alberta Education and Childcare increased some grants, there was a reduction in others, notably 0% change in per student instruction base grants, which make up 49% of our grant funding.
This has led to less funding per student and long term challenges in keeping up with rising operational costs. Despite funding challenges, the board aims to limit the impact on class sizes and maintain supports for student needs. MHPSD is committed to maintaining quality of excellence with reduced funding.
Declining Enrolment
- Over the past ten years, the number of births in the region has steadily declined, leading to slower population growth among school-aged children in Medicine Hat. As a result, our schools are seeing more students graduate than are entering at the kindergarten level.
- In the past 3 years we have experienced planned deficits, using reserves over multiple years to help soften the impact of reduced enrolment and funding challenges.
Staff Impact
- We consider composition of student needs and staff capacity, class by class, in order to find the right balance of staffing between teachers and educational assistants. The process takes months, and our primary focus is to find the most suitable balance so we can meet the unique needs of students and staff.
- Total staff reduction is 3.66 FTE. While efforts are made to minimize the impact through attrition (retirements), there have been reductions in instructional, support, and centralized staff. As a result, we do not anticipate significant changes in class sizes or job losses.
Even though we have a reduction in staff, there are still rising operational costs in transportation and salaries and benefits.
Transportation funding
- 3.7% of the total budget is spent on transportation. Recent changes in eligibility for transportation funding has prompted us to review our transportation offerings. We have been able to find savings by reducing two busses, which will result in a moderate ride time increase for approximately 20 students.
Salaries and Benefits
Overall salaries and benefits have increased by $501,900 or .7%.
- Teacher negotiations not only have monetary increases; in addition, there is a new proposed fund to address complexity in the classroom. More information will be shared as negotiations are still underway. We are optimistic that new government complexity funding will proceed and make a difference in the classroom.
- Increases for CUPE and non unionized employees will be added to the budget.
- Benefits - Despite a reduction in staff FTE, benefit costs continue to rise with a total increase of $53,700.