2026-2027 Budget Priorities

At Foothills School Division, we are guided by a shared commitment to student success, well-being and belonging. Across our schools and communities, conversation about education funding reflect our collective interest in ensuring students have access to safe, welcoming learning environments and high-quality programming. The Division’s focus remains clear, supporting every learner through extraordinary educational experiences, strong relationships, and responsible stewardship of resources in service of our communities.

We continue to remain focused on helping every student feel supported, engaged and successful at school. To better understand the perspectives of our staff, partners in education, parents/guardians, and community we serve, we welcome you to provide your insights to help inform the Division's 2026-2027 budget priorities.

Before you begin the short Ideas that Make Cents survey, we have highlighted key points for your consideration on how we are funded, and where those funds are allocated.

• Public school divisions in Alberta are funded mainly by the Government of Alberta, using rules set each year in the Education Funding Manual. The Education Levy from municipal property taxes are pooled provincially and distributed based on the rules within the Education Funding Manual. As a result, property taxes collected in a community are not directly allocated to a specific local school.
  
  
• The largest portion of funding is based on student enrollment, with grant funding provided to reflect student demographics, school locations, and other circumstances across schools and communities.
  
  
• Beginning in the 2025–2026 school year, Alberta changed how enrollment funding is calculated. The previous Weighted Moving Average method was replaced with a 30–70 Adjusted Enrollment Model, where 30% of funding is based on current enrolment and 70% on projected enrollment for the coming year.
  
  
• Alberta Education and Childcare funding supports spending across several areas. FSD operating expenditures are typically allocated into the following categories (percentages vary year-to-year):
  • 77% - Instruction (salaries and benefits for staff, and services, contracts and supplies that pertain to direct teaching student learning)
  • 15% - Operations & Maintenance (salaries and benefits for staff who contribute to the maintenance and operations of the division, service contracts, insurance, supplies, utilities, etc.)
  • 5% - Transportation (salaries and benefits for bus drivers, mechanics and other transportation staff, repair and replacement of school buses)
  • 3% - System Administration (salaries and benefits for Board of Trustees, Superintendents, and division-wide administration staff that serves our 900+ employees (Human Resources and Payroll, Financial Services, Technology Support, Communications), service contracts, and supplies.
    
    
• The revenue from Alberta Education and Childcare meets 89% of FSD’s annual expenditures. Additional revenues originate from Alberta Infrastructure, Other GoA funding, Federal Government, rental income, fees, and operating reserves.
  1. Operating reserves have been utilized in recent years to better provide effective classroom teaching and supports.
  2. In August 2023, Alberta Education implemented a maximum limit for operating reserves. This maximum percentage is based on each School Division’s system administration percentage, which equates to 3.20% for the Foothills School Division. This operating reserve limit has since increased to 6.0% of total operating expenditures.
     
     
• For the 2025-2026 school year, FSD experienced a loss in external grant funding through the federally funded Jordan’s Principle grant, which previously helped support First Nations student learning and wellness. As this funding has ended, the Division must support these services within existing education funding, while remaining committed to supporting First Nations student learning and well-being.
  
  
• Four out of five employee groups negotiate salaries and benefits within collective agreements. Current agreements are in place through to 2028 and can be reviewed at: Foothills School Division | Labour Relations.
  
  
• FSD Board of Trustees are actively advocating for all learners (Foothills School Division | Board Advocacy)
  
  
• Partners in Education are encouraged to explore their advocacy opportunities through the Raise Your Voice Advocacy page to request government support to change how school capacity is calculated and schools are funded, providing equitable opportunities across the system, and reducing the impact of the cost of transportation.
  
  
• In February 2026 the Ministry of Education and Childcare announced that FSD would receive one (1) Complexity Team (1 teacher and 2 EAs) that is to be deployed into a designated school/grade level. The Division continues to assess how best to support diverse and complex student needs across all schools within available resources.

This short survey is to gather your input to help us make decisions about our upcoming budget and Education Plan.

Thank you for taking the time to share your insight.