FUNDING MANUAL FOR SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 2008 – 2009 SCHOOL YEAR This manual is issued under authority of the following: • School Act, RSA 2000, Section 176 • Alberta School Foundation Fund Regulation (AR 250/96, amended by AR 166/2001) • Government Organization Act, Section 13 • Education Grants Regulation Deputy Minister of Education Date MESSAGE FROM THE DEPUTY MINISTER FUNDING MANUAL FOR SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 2008 – 2009 Summary OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES FUNDING MANUAL FOR SCHOOL AUTHORIITIES 2008 – 2009 SCHOOL YEAR The following information outlines the significant changes to the 2008-2009 Funding Manual for School Authorities. The Funding Manual has a new look and is a smaller more streamlined document than previous versions. The entire document is now paginated. Some content has been moved to Section 9, including the Reporting Requirements, References, and the Contact List. A significant amount of content that was not funding related has been removed and references to Alberta Education documents that ‘house’ this information are either itemized in the Manual or ‘hot linked’ in the electronic version. In previous Manuals certain sections from part one were repeated in the Private ECS Operators and Private Schools sections. In the revised 2008-2009 Manual Private ECS Operators and Private Schools are referred to the applicable sections in Part 1. These changes are clearly laid out in the Table of Contents. The following is a list of significant content changes that have been made to the 2008-2009 Funding Manual for School Authorities. Some of these changes may not apply to all school authority types. Table of Contents • One new section has been added: Section 6.6, Fort McMurray Allowance for school jurisdictions in the Fort McMurray area. Part 1: Funding for School Jurisdictions, Francophone Regional Authorities, and Charter Schools. • Some sections in Part 1 have been re-numbered as a result of the Manual’s new format. Section 1.25 – Charter Schools funding • Allocation Criteria 2 (b) and (c) have been modified so that transportation funding for urban and rural students attending a Charter School is consistent with transportation funding provided for students attending urban and rural school jurisdictions. Section 1.31 – Special Transportation Funding • Special Transportation funding will be provided for eligible students and ECS children with disabilities/delays who because of their disability are unable to ride on regular transportation provided under sections 1.28, 1.29, and 1.30. The reference to young age is not required. Section 1.32 – ECS Regular Transportation • Transportation funding for ECS Children with disabilities/delays may only be claimed under Section 1.33 ECS Special Transportation. Parent provided transportation of a child with a disability or delay will continue to be provided under Section 1.32. Part 5: Targeted Funding for Provincial Priorities Section 5.6 – Children and Youth with Complex Needs funding • Funding allocations are Under Review for the 2008-2009 school year. Part 6: Other Provincial Support Section 6.1– Education Programs in Institutions (EPI’s) funding • This funding, currently provided for eligible Resident Students of the Government who reside in Institutions, will also now be provided to eligible students served by an Institution on a day basis. Only EPI’s approved to serve “day students” will be eligible for this funding. This funding change is being made to reflect changes that the Alberta Solicitor General and Alberta Health and Wellness have made in serving persons of school age in their Institutions. FUNDING MANUAL FOR SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 2008 – 2009 Summary OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES Section 6.2– Regional Educational Consulting Services (RECS) funding • The Service Fee charged by RECS teams to school authorities is increased from $45 to $50 per hour. • The requirement that RECS teams provide an audited financial statement of actual costs incurred has changed. The financial statements no longer are required to be audited. This change is made to reduce the amount of administration for RECS teams and to recognize the higher costs of having financial statements audited. Section 6.6– Fort McMurray Allowance (FMA) funding • This living allowance represents new funding for school jurisdictions in the Fort McMurray area. The FMA is provided to the jurisdiction who then allocate to their eligible employees in the Fort McMurray area. Part 8: Payments to School Authorities Sections 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3 – Funding Rates • Alberta Education’s funding rates were increased by 4.53% as per the Budget 2008 announcement. Glossary of Terms New definitions have been added to the Glossary for the following terms: • Day Students (in Education Programs in Institutions) • FTE • FTE Funded Children/Students • FTE Funded Enrollment • FTE Weighted Enrollment • Institutional Students • School Board (replaces the former term “Board”) • Schools of Choice FUNDING MANUAL FOR SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 2008 – 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction Foreword . 11 General Funding Conditions . 11 Limitations . 13 Allocation Categories ........................................................13 Revenue Sources...........................................................14 Manual Format.............................................................15 Part I — Funding1 for School Jurisdictions, Francophone Regional Authorities, and Charter Schools A. Base Allocations Section 1.1 — ECS Base Instruction . 17 Section 1.2 — Base Instruction (Grades 1 – 12) . 19 Section 1.3 — Outreach . 23 Section 1.4 — Home Education . 23 B. Additional Allocations for Differential Cost Factors Section 1.5 — ECS Mild/Moderate Disabilities, Gifted and Talented Allocation .......... 26 Section 1.6 — ECS Program Unit Funding...................................... 26 Section 1.7 — Severe Disabilities Profile . 28 Section 1.8 — English as a Second Language................................... 29 Section 1.9 — Francisation (Francophone) . 30 Section 1.10 — Enhanced ESL/Francisation . 30 Section 1.11 — First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education Allocation .................... 31 Section 1.12 — Daily Physical Activity . 32 Section 1.13 — Socio-Economic Status (SES) Allocation . 32 Section 1.14 — Relative Cost of Purchasing Allocation . 35 Section 1.15 — Northern Allowance ............................................ 38 Section 1.16 — Intra Jurisdiction . 38 Section 1.17 — Enrollment Growth............................................. 39 Section 1.18 — Enrollment Decline . 40 Section 1.19 — Small Schools by Necessity . 41 Section 1.20 — Small School Board Administration ................................ 43 Section 1.21 — Stabilization ..................................................44 Section 1.22 — Hutterite Colony Schools........................................ 45 Section 1.23 — Francophone Equivalency....................................... 45 Section 1.24 — Plant Operations and Maintenance ................................ 45 Section 1.25 — Charter Schools...............................................47 1Accredited Funded Private Schools and Private ECS Operators as applicable. R EVISED OctoBER 2008 FUNDING MANUAL FOR SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 2008 – 2009 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page C. Transportation Section 1.26 — Boarding . 48 Section 1.27 — Fuel Price Contingency ......................................... 48 Section 1.28 — Rural Transportation . 49 Section 1.29 — Urban Transportation........................................... 53 Section 1.30 — Metro Urban Transportation . 57 Section 1.31 — Special Transportation.......................................... 60 Section 1.32 — ECS Regular Transportation (Private ECS Operators) ................. 62 Section 1.33 — ECS Special Transportation (Private ECS Operators and Metro School Jurisdictions) ...................................... 63 Part 2 — Funding for Private ECS Operators and Accredited Funded Private Schools with ECS Programs Section 2.1 — ECS Base Instruction . refer to section 1.1 . 17 Section 2.2 — ECS Mild/Moderate Disabilities, Gifted and Talented Funding . refer to section 1.5 . 26 Section 2.3 — ECS Program Unit Funding................. refer to section 1.6 ..... 26 Section 2.4 — ECS English as a Second Language . refer to section 1.8 . 29 Section 2.5 — ECS Enhanced ESL . refer to section 1.10 . 30 Section 2.6 — ECS Plant Operations and Maintenance...................... 65 Section 2.7 — ECS Administration ...................................... 65 UPDATED Section 2.8 — ECS Transportation ...................... refer to section 1.32 . 62 . or section 1.33 . 63 Part 3 — Funding for Accredited Funded Private Schools (Grades 1 – 12) Section 3.1 — Base Instruction.......................... refer to section 1.2 . 19 Section 3.2 — Designated Special Education Private Schools . 66 Section 3.3 — Severe Disabilities....................................... 67 Section 3.4 — Early Literacy........................................... 68 Section 3.5 — Home Education . refer to section 1.4 . 23 Section 3.6 — Daily Physical Activity . refer to section 1.12 . 32 Section 3.7 — English as a Second Language............. refer to section 1.8 . 29 Section 3.8 — Enhanced ESL.......................... refer to section 1.10 . 30 NEW Section 3.9 — First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education Allocation (Level 2 only) refer to section 1.11 . 31 NEW Section 3.10 — Northern Allowance (Level 2 only) refer to Section 1.15 . 38 NEW Section 3.11 — Relative Cost of Purchasing Allocation (Level 2 only) ................. 68a NEW Section