Rocky View Schools Still Faces Funding Shortfall Despite Additional Provincial Grants

In a revealing update on the financial challenges facing Rocky View Schools (RVS), Superintendent Greg Luterbach announced that despite recent supplemental grants from the province, the division is still grappling with a significant funding shortfall. RVS, responsible for educating over 28,000 students, is set to receive around $3.3 million less than necessary for full student funding.
The recent supplemental enrolment growth grant from the province, amounting to nearly $1.2 million, falls short in addressing the division’s needs. The grant calculation is based on the weighted-moving-average (WMA) method, which averages enrolment over three years. For the 2023/24 academic year, this formula has led to funding for only 27,835 students, although RVS is tasked with educating 28,558 students. This discrepancy leaves approximately 720 students without inclusion in the base instructional grants.
Earlier in the year, the government acknowledged this disparity with a supplemental enrolment growth grant of $737,000, which was incorporated into RVS’s overall operating budget for 2023/24. The grant’s formula offered $1,500 per student for divisions experiencing two to five percent growth and $3,000 for growth over five percent. As of September 2023, RVS’s growth stood at approximately 3.5 percent, translating to an enrolment increase of about 940 students.
Further funding was announced on November 28, promising $1,500 per student for enrolment growth up to 100 students and $2,000 per student for growth beyond this number. For RVS, the revised formula is expected to generate nearly $2 million. However, Luterbach pointed out that with $737,000 already spent, the actual new revenue amounts to roughly $1.181 million, anticipated in December.
Luterbach has recommended that the budget committee convene to discuss the potential allocation of these supplemental funds. However, the administration has yet to propose any specific recommendations for this additional revenue. This situation underscores the ongoing financial challenges faced by educational divisions like RVS, even in the face of governmental support and grants.