A new Alberta Education requirement will cost Rocky View Schools (RVS) $855,000, trustees learned at their board meeting, April 21.
A Provincial Approach to Student Information (PASI), a streamlined information sharing system of student data for Alberta’s K-12 schools, must be operational by September 2012.
The board shuffled its money and drew funds from the transportation reserve to cover the new technology and its associated costs.
This year, RVS received less than $700,000 in grants due to educational cutbacks from the provincial government. Annual maintenance for PASI will cost $78,750, paid for by RVS.
When Ward 2 Trustee Bev LaPeare asked Superintendent of Schools Greg Bass if any grants were in the works from the Province for PASI, she was told no.
“None that I’m aware of and none that I would expect,” said Bass.
“That’s really disheartening,” said LaPeare. “My understanding is that the budget next year won’t look any shinier than this year, so I think we need to get on with it and get our staff trained.”
“There’s never been any indication that boards would get financial assistance for implementation,” said Bass following the meeting. “If you’re not compliant, you’re going to get into trouble.”
Trustees were upset by the lack of financial assistance.
“The government has put us into a horrible position,” said Ward 4 Trustee Helen Clease.
“I find it interesting that the government makes us pay for it, but we can’t afford it,” exclaimed Board Chair Bruce Pettigrew. “Does anyone else see a huge disconnect there between what the government mandates us to do and the other side, where they don’t give us the money to do it?”
Pettigrew asked Darrell Couture, RVS associate superintendent of business and operations, if PASI offered tangible benefits to the school division.
Couture said it would help move data faster if a student changed school divisions and could help transfer internal information quickly.
“If someone else wants you to do something, normally, that someone else is willing to help carry some of the costs,” said Pettigrew.
