CBE News

news release

April 23, 2013
for immediate release
PDF version of news release

CBE Board of Trustees cuts its budget by 10 per cent for 2013-14

CALGARY—In response to a difficult budget year, trustees with the Calgary Board of Education today approved reducing their budget by $182,710 for 2013-14.

The reduction in the Board of Trustees' budget contributes to a total year-over-year reduction of 13.5 per cent. The Board of Trustees unanimously approved a budget for 2013-14 of $1.549 million.

“Faced with a difficult budget, the Board of Trustees wanted to ensure we were doing our part to minimize the impact on classrooms by cutting the trustees budget,” said Pat Cochrane, chair of the Board of Trustees. “This is in line with CBE Administration’s commitment to also reduce costs to put students first.”

The CBE faces a $62-million shortfall in provincial funding this year.

Trustees voted unanimously on April 16 to reduce their own pay by 3.5 per cent effective Sept. 1. They also directed Administration to bring a proposal to reduce the Board of Trustees’ budget by at least 10 per cent. That report was presented and approved at a public meeting of the Board of Trustees today.

For details on how the Board of Trustees is cutting its budget, see report at board meetings

Content Moderator: Communication Services
Web Administrator: Leslie Miller
Last Modified: April 23, 2013

Band Bingo - Volunteers Urgently Needed

THIS IS URGENT

Hello Band Parents

If the band program does not provide the required 13 volunteers, the band program will not receive the funds AND the Wilma Hansen School Parents Association will be fined AND the bingo license will be put in jeopardy for future bingos.

PLEASE check your calendar and let us know if you are able to volunteer.

Our next Bingo is the afternoon of SUNDAY, APRIL 28 from 10:30am to 3:30pm.

The location is the BINGO BARN, 1107 33 Street NE

This Bingo is specifically for the band program at Wilma.  That means that if the band program provides the parent volunteers, all funds received from this event will go directly to the band program.  As always, you will receive the usual 30point (1point = $1) credit voucher as well.  This voucher can be applied to your school fees in September as well as other expenses that come up in the school year.

For this Bingo, we are requesting 13 volunteers. If you are able to volunteer for this event, please respond to this email.   So, check your calendars and respond asap!  (nstaples@shaw.ca)

If you are available for this date, please let me know.

Thanks

Nancy Staples

From the CBE

Budget update for all parents

"Our organization is grappling with the impact of the provincial budget announced on March 7. As we have reported to you before, the provincial budget means our system will have the same revenue next year as we had this year. This happens when we expect to welcome 3,000 more students and our costs will be increasing. It is the tip of a very difficult iceberg.

For more than a month, we have been crunching numbers, evaluating services and reviewing options to achieve our objectives. Student success and safety are our top priorities. The approach we are taking to the budget focuses on maximizing the budget directed to classrooms while balancing the budget.

On Tuesday, we will present the budget assumptions report to the Board of Trustees. It will be available online today. This report sets out the decisions, uncertainties and strategies that we propose to achieve the objectives set out in the Three-Year Education Plan.

Before the report is published, there are some messages I would like to emphasize in advance.

To put students, classrooms and schools first, we have looked everywhere in our system to be more efficient and make cuts.

Key Communique

Come out to next Council of School Councils meeting

The spring meeting will take place on April 17.

Trustees will provide a summary of the Trustee-hosted meetings held in February, an update on the 2013-14 budget and information about getting involved in the upcoming school board trustee election.

Read more

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Help the CBE strengthen its connection with school councils and parents

All parents are invited to attend one of the upcoming sessions to share their thoughts about parent and school council communications, and how we can work together to improve the parent experience.

Area II - April 24 - 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Mount View Centre, 2004 - 4 St. N.E.
Area III - April 23 - 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Marlborough School, 4711 Maryvale Dr. N.E.

Please RSVP to kldrummond@cbe.ab.ca, indicating which meeting you plan to attend.

Read more

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Province invites input on review of individual program plan (IPP) components

As schools and school authorities move toward a more inclusive education system, there remain high

CBE 2013 Community Report

"The 2013 Community Report is being presented a little differently this year. In previous years, the report was a print document only. This year, we have expanded the report to include more in-depth information about the progress we are making in achieving excellent results for our students.

In these pages and links, you will find information on how we continue to provide well-rounded learning for every student. For example, you will find links to our student results pages, Board reports and videos that tell you much more about what we are doing every day to ensure student success. As more information becomes available over the year, it will be added to these pages.

We invite you to join in the dialogue by telling us what you think. Your views are important to us, and your feedback will help us continue to improve."


Read the report here.

From the CBE Communications Advisor

Help the CBE strengthen its connection with school councils and parents

Parents are important partners in public education. Students are most successful when educators and parents work together with students to support their learning.

At schools, this is achieved in large part through school councils. At the system level, key communicators on school councils have played an important role in connecting their school to the system as a whole. CBE Administration would like to talk with parents about what's working, what isn't and identify ways we can work better together in future. Your input may also enable us to help manage the budget challenges we face this year in better ways.

Parents are invited to attend one of the sessions below to share their thoughts about parent and school council communications, and how we can work together to improve the parent experience.

Area I - April 10 - 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Parkdale Centre, 728 - 32 St. N.W.
Area II - April 24 - 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Mount View Centre, 2004 - 4 St. N.E.
Area III - April 23 - 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Marlborough School, 4711 Maryvale Dr. N.E.
Area IV - April 11 - 6:30-8:30 p.m. - A.E. Cross School, 3445 - 37 St. S.W.
Area V - April 9 - 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Haysboro School, 1123 - 87 Ave. S.W.

We’d like to have as many schools as possible represented in these discussions and have at least one parent from each school in attendance at a session. Please RSVP by replying to this message or phoning 403-817-7951, indicating which meeting you plan to attend.

This information is also posted on the CBE website and school websites (listed under System News) here: http://www.cbe.ab.ca/New/spotlights12-13/130402_parents_invited.asp

Thank you,

Karen

Karen Drummond

Communications Advisor

Calgary Board of Education | www.cbe.ab.ca

t | 403-817-7951

Freezing on Salaries for CBE Senior Leaders

The chief superintendent of schools for the Calgary Board of Education is freezing salaries for senior leaders for 2013-14.

“Faced with a difficult budget, we committed to keep students first by looking everywhere to balance the budget,” says Naomi Johnson. “In a week, we will present all of our strategies to balance the budget, including this decision about executive compensation.”

This decision applies to the superintendent team for the fiscal year starting Sept. 1, 2013.

The decision is distinct from possible increases that may apply to non-unionized or “exempt” employees based on performance last year and effective in the current budget year. An allocation for this potential expenditure was approved in May 2012 for the current fiscal year, which runs Sept. 1, 2012 to Aug. 31, 2013. The CBE’s exempt employees are a varied group that includes positions such as engineers, executive administrative assistants and advisors in Human Resources.

“We are still crunching numbers and weighing options to balance the budget,” Johnson adds. “Like our decision to keep transportation fees flat for next year, we are announcing this strategy early so we can all refocus on putting students first.”

For more information, go to www.cbe.ab.ca