Calgary schools are facing new challenges as they try to bridge the gap in their budgets with minimum impact to the students and programs.
Teacher's jobs are on the chopping block at both school boards but when it comes to hot button issues in education, school class sizes are near the top of the list.
Parents want the best learning conditions for their children and small class sizes are seen as the best way to achieve that.
Unfortunately, with the cuts coming, teachers are bracing themselves for larger class sizes this September and so are parents.
"I think when you are decreasing support in the classroom and you have more students and less support in the classroom you're not able to give the students the individual attention that they need," said Erin Kelly, Co-President of the Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils
Both the public and Catholic boards could lose more than 350 teachers as they try to trim their budgets.
Alberta's Education Minister, Dave Hancock, admits that the government cannot meet funding demands by school boards.
Hancock says the province has provided millions of dollars to keep class sizes at a reasonable level and recognizes that in the primary grades, smaller is better.
"We haven't cut that grant but we have re-profiled it to K to 3 because that's where the evidence shows it makes a difference in student performance. These are the things we have to do," said Hancock.
It may be several months before parents and teachers find out what impact funding cuts will have on the classroom, but the presidents of the Catholic and public teachers unions are convinced class sizes are going to get bigger
‘This is going to impact teaching and learning conditions for students and for teachers. Teachers are going to see more students, students are going to see less teachers," said David Cracknell, from the Seperate School Teachers Union.
‘Kids aren't going to have the one on one time that they probably need to at one point or another to be successful learners," said Jenny Regal, Alberta Teachers' Local 38.
Calgary Board of Education Chair, Pat Cochrane says the CBE is currently running a $61 million deficit but she says the board has managed to lessen the impact on jobs.
Even so the board must still cut $14 million worth of teaching positions.
"The other funding has been removed for the 4-6 and the 7-9," said Cochrane, "We know we'll have fewer teachers next year and so we don't exactly know what the class sizes will look like."
Cochrane says schools will be able to maintain or at least stay close to the 1 teacher to 17 student ratios for kindergarten to grade three.
The board must now wait for individual school principals to tell them what jobs are going to be eliminated.
