Alberta's next provincial election is scheduled for Monday, May 29, 2023. As you prepare to vote, Edmonton Catholic Schools’ Board of Trustees would like to share questions that you might ask of your candidates on issues of importance to us and your child’s education. 

Ask: How will you ensure publicly funded Catholic education remains protected in Alberta?

Alberta is one of the few provinces in Canada that still has publicly funded Catholic education. The choice of Catholic education is a constitutional right and has been since Alberta became part of Canada in 1905. Catholic education is crucial as it provides families with a faith-based choice for their child. Our schools educate students of all faiths who understand the importance of faith-based education. Families in provinces who have lost publicly-funded Catholic education must pay tuition for faith-based education. 

Listen for: 

• A commitment to protecting and preserving publicly funded Catholic education in Alberta
• An understanding of the importance of faith-based choice in education

Ask: How will you ensure Edmonton Catholic Schools receives the required funding for new schools, modernizations, and maintenance so that all our students have enriching, safe, and healthy learning spaces?

We believe all students should have access to a quality learning environment regardless of the age of the building. In new neighbourhoods, a shortage of schools has put immense pressure on existing schools. Many of our new schools are full or over-capacity with no additional space to add modular classrooms (portables). There is no fast fix. It takes, on average, four years from the time a new school is announced to build it and have it ready for students. 

In older areas, schools are also often very old and require much modernization and maintenance. Sometimes it is more effective to combine a few small close schools into a larger new replacement school. In order to provide an excellent Catholic education in all areas of the city with suitable learning spaces, we will need more new schools, replacement schools, and modernizations.  

Listen for:

• A commitment to budgeting for new schools, modernizations, and maintenance
• An understanding that we need enriching, safe, and healthy learning spaces all over the city, and we need them now

Ask: How will you ensure our school division receives proper funding to meet growing student enrolments?

Edmonton Catholic Schools is experiencing unprecedented growth in enrolment. We grew by over 2,000 students last year. That is the size of two large high schools. Every dollar we spend on investing in our students and schools is an investment in Alberta’s future. We want to see the best for our province. 

Listen for:

• A commitment to increased funding as enrolment grows

Ask: How will you ensure appropriate government ministries are supporting mental and physical health for students in schools? 

Mental and physical health are a vital part of student success. When it comes to physical health, more and more students are needing access to healthy foods and services such as occupational, physical, and behavioural therapy and speech and language pathologist services.

The number of students identified with significant mental health needs is increasing. These are real life-and-death situations. We need to increase funding to ensure we are able to provide supports for students, including mental health therapists, social and emotional learning, and training for school staff. 

Listen for:

• An understanding of how critical it is to support student mental and physical health
• An understanding that the education system needs the support of the health system and the social services system to meet student needs
• A commitment to adequate funding for the supports above 

Ask: How will you ensure school divisions are able to transport students safely and efficiently?

Many families rely on transportation services to travel to and from school. ECSD contracts services from yellow bus companies who then hire bus drivers. Edmonton Catholic Schools buses approximately 17,000 students every day. The costs are increasing, and there is an ongoing shortage of bus drivers. A big part of the problem is bus drivers will get trained and get some experience on yellow school buses, and then go work full-time for other companies with higher pay and benefits. We need funding that reflects the actual costs of transporting students, including driver salary increases and benefits. 

Listen for:

• A commitment to funding that reflects the actual costs of transporting students
• A commitment to ensuring that school divisions have enough funding to allow contractors to provide a decent wage and benefits for yellow school bus drivers 
• An understanding of the bus driver shortage and the impact on families

Ask: How will you ensure our youngest learners receive essential learning opportunities in Pre-Kindergarten and Full-Day Kindergarten?

A good start to learning sets students up for ongoing educational success. Pre-Kindergarten programming is underfunded. Only students with severe speech and language, behavioural, or fine motor skills delays qualify for Pre-K program funding and that funding is not sufficient for the required interventions needed. Currently, the Government of Alberta only funds a half day of Kindergarten for every student. We know that full-day learning experiences support early literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional learning. There’s no funding for Full-Day Kindergarten. It is difficult to provide the level of nurturing supports that are best for students in their early years. 

Listen for:

• A commitment to funding Pre-Kindergarten and Full-Day Kindergarten for all students
• An understanding of the importance of early learning as a good start to education

Your Trustees have been sharing our Division’s priorities and needs with current MLAs and candidates. Click here to read more about the ECSD Board of Trustees Provincial Advocacy for 2022-2023.