2016-17 Financial Results Approved by Board of Trustees

Nov. 27, 2017

For immediate release

​PDF of Media Release

CALGARY – The Board of Trustees has approved the Calgary Board of Education’s audited 2016-17 financial results.

The 2016-17 school year was marked by growth throughout the system, including an increase in both enrolment and student spaces. Enrolment for 2016-17 increased to 119,147, an increase of 2,162 students from the previous year. Eighteen new and replacement schools welcomed students and two major modernizations were completed. In all, 12,525 new student spaces opened during the school year.

While Alberta Education primarily funds these major capital projects, the CBE is investing more than $30 million over 2015 to 2019 to ensure that our new, replacement and modernized schools are meeting students’ needs now and into the future.

“During this time of unprecedented growth in our system over the last several years, we continue to ensure that students come first,” said Trina Hurdman, chair of the Board of Trustees. “Our financial results demonstrate our continual efforts to find operational efficiencies while investing in strategies to improve student learning.”

Personalization of learning remained the CBE’s overarching strategy in the 2016-17 school year. This included:

  • improving results for our First Nations, Métis and Inuit learners through a new Indigenous Education strategy that includes, in part, graduation coaches in each of our high schools and the opening of our Niitsitapi Learning Centre;
  • advancing our leadership practices through a focused leadership development program and the development of a new teacher induction process;
  • developing a systemic approach for mathematics and implementing the literacy strategy; and
  • further refining the High School Success strategy.

The CBE implemented an employee engagement survey in the spring of 2017, with work continuing in 2017-18 before a follow-up survey in 2019. Other work around the system included wireless network upgrades, continued implementation of the dialogue community engagement framework, advancement of the school website technology platform and migration of school websites to the new platform.

Financial highlights include:

  • The CBE invested funding in its students, classrooms and schools: $1.1 billion dollars [including 8,624 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs)] was allocated to instruction in direct support of the achievement of success for each student.
  • Enrolment growth and new schools contributed to an increase of 304 FTEs over 2015-16. 
  • Revenue from Alberta Education was up $21.5 million, primarily due to enrolment growth.
  • The year ends with a $15.1 million deficit. This is $5 million less than budgeted and is being funded through the use of reserves. ($15 million is 1.1 per cent of the CBE’s total expenses.)
  • The planned deficit of nearly $20 million was reduced to just over $15 million, due in part to $7.4 million in savings in service units.
  • Overall results are consistent with the budget passed by the Board in June 2016 and updated in November 2016.

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