EdmontonPublicSchools

Bill 20 prohibits the use of electronic tabulators in municipal elections beginning October 31 and going into effectfor 2025. Board trustee Trisha Estabrooks, said the “unforeseen and unexpected” additional costs are unfair given the current funding crisis EPS is experiencing due to higher enrollments. She feels like we’re unfairly caught up in petty politics, and we’re not putting kids first on this one and that’s through no fault of our own.

”EPS contracts the City of Edmonton to administrate elections and pays 29 per cent of total election costs associated with planning and delivering the elections for trustees. The City of Edmonton estimates Bill 20 means $4.8 million in additional costs due to the need for more workers and use separate ballots and ballot boxes for — mayor, councillors, Catholic school board trustees, and public school board trustees.

Its no secret that the ATA has informed its membership that a strike may be what it takes to bring the reality of their concerns to the Province and people of Alberta. Don't be surprised if, in the weeks and months ahead, we see and hear more from the ATA. In the meantime and while waiting, the Journal article below is a good introduction to what may be coming our way.

Edmonton Public Schools will be opening its newest school, Elder Dr. Francis Whiskeyjack High School, on Thursday. Elder Dr. Francis Whiskeyjack High School is named after a community leader who acted as a cultural advisor and an elder who provided guidance to many educators and students in Edmonton Public Schools (EPS).

The school is located in the southeast Meadows neighbourhood (2410 17 St.) is built for a 2,400 student capacity but will have an enrolment of approximately 850 students in grades 10 and 11 for the 2024-25 school year . Elder Dr. Francis Whiskeyjack High School will introduce an open-concept layout where classrooms open up to provide extra space for students to work on collaborative projects.

Time-outs are common practice for various reasons and settings. Time-outs are used in sports, in meetings, in computers, in parenting and in schools. There are time-outs in schools, then there are time-outs+ more commonly referred to as seclusion rooms. Seclusion rooms became a real hot topic since 2018 due to an incident outside the city. In 2019 the NDP banned the use of seclusion rooms, but they were reinstated by the newly elected UCP government in the same year. When the education minister reversed the ban, he also introduced standards for use of seclusion and restraint in schools.

In May Edmonton Public Schools (EPS) reported that it has 167 active seclusion rooms in 80 of its schools, but 25 of those schools never used the rooms. In April 2024 Alberta Education reported a total of 263 seclusion rooms in Alberta schools. This means Edmonton Public Schools has 63 per cent of the province's seclusion rooms while enrolling about 14 per cent of Alberta K-12 students.

Each year school principals decide whether they need active seclusion rooms based on the programs and students in the school and this year 25 new seclusion rooms will be constructed. At the May 24 meeting, Superintendent Darrel Robertson said it is easier to build the rooms and decommission them if not needed than to add them after the fact.

There is plenty of opposition against seclusion rooms, but Superintendent Robertson has the task of representing the teachers and support staff who only use seclusion in a crisis when a student's behaviour presents a risk of harm to themselves or others.

I'm basically a cut & paste guy so I apologize for the BIG squeeze below, but I wanted to acknowledge this excellent sample of Edmonton's young people. The photos are of the Valedictorians from Edmonton Public High Schools and if you go to the actual Journal page you can see the photos of the Valedictorians in better detail and click on their link to read their Valedictorian address. Congratulations and the best to all the Valedictorians and all graduates.

Edmonton Public Schools are facing the possibility of having to did in their rainy day accumulated surplus, which is “not sustainable.” Superintendent Darrel Robertson said to combat inflationary pressures on utilities, insurances and increased staffing costs the division will need to take millions from accumulated operating surplus fund and lesser millions from their capital reserve funds leaving both funds dangerously low.

The greatest problem is growing student enrollments and all the personnel requirements of meeting this number.The challenge is that all of our costs are increasing, including our staffing costs. It’s getting tighter and tighter,” Robertson said. The largest expense for the division is salaries, wages and benefits for employees, resulting in an increased cost of $16 million, said Todd Burnstad, chief financial officer with Edmonton Public.

Like all school boards in Alberta, Edmonton Public Schools is dependent upon Edmonton taxpayers as well as the Provincial Government which also gets some of its financial base from Alberta taxpayers.

‍In May Edmonton Public Schools purchased the Alberta College building from MacEwan University as the new home of Centre High in the heart of the city. Centre High's current enrollment is more than 2,200 students who are upgrading their education or attending to achieve other goals.

Edmonton Public Schools is facing the same challenge of increased costs as are property owners and businesses. Rising insurance and utility costs plus a funding shortfall is making it increasingly difficult for to maintain school operation and maintenance.

#EdmontonPublicSchools, #risngcosts, #trustees

Edmonton has recently surpassed a population of just over 1 million residents. The growth in population represents many different ethnic groups and cultures whose presence make themselves known in many ways. One of the ways most people don't think about is the Edmonton Public School school calendar. Until recently holidays were reflective of Edmonton's Judeo/Christian background but now that has changed significantly and EPS is having to adjust the school year calendar to reflect those changes.  National Indigenous People's Day on June 21 and Diwali on Oct 24 will be  two new holidays added to Edmonton Public Schools holiday schedule next year and more are being lobbied for and considered.

#EdmontonPublicSchools, #holidays, #NationalIndigenousPeople'sDay, #Diwali

When Premier Kenney announced the gradual removal of restrictions beginning Tuesday midnight one might think that everyone would celebrate the news. Not only was it not a cause for mass celebration it caused mixed reactions from three different sectors of our city as well as the general populace.

Below are reports on the reactions of three different and important sectors of Edmonton. The first is City Council's reaction, that is followed by comments from some in the business community and lastly is a report from Edmonton Public Schools.

#Covid, #restrictions, #Citycouncil, #business, #EdmontonPublicSchools

Wanting schools to be safe and healthy environments for students and staff is no doubt what led to the decision to purchase Hepa air filters.

After reading the article I'm left with some questions that I believe are important:

1. Does the 6 million dollar price tag only cover the cost of the Hepa filter units or does it include installation as well?
2. What will be estimated annual cost for replacing the filters? 
3. Who will replace the filters? Custodians or union workers?

#EdmontonPublicSchools, #hepa