Pleased with their performance, Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) is sharing their achievements and goals with the community.
During their Nov. 30 board meeting, trustees approved the division's 2016 Annual Education Results Report (AERR) and Three Year Education Plan. The newly combined document outlines highlights for NLPS over the past year, as well as goes over areas for improvement and their priorities moving forward.
Associate Superintendent Bill Driedger pointed to the accountability pillar results as being a main accomplishment for the school division in 2015-16. Of the 16 measures ranked by Alberta Education, five improved significantly, one improved, eight maintained, and only one declined – the number of students who achieved ‘excellence' on diploma exams.
“Perhaps the most telling measure is Continuous Improvement. For two years the measure has improved significantly, and now sits well above the provincial average,” Driedger read an excerpt from the report to the board. “Continuous improvement is important to Northern Lights Public Schools, and the efforts of many who play a role in the division are certainly making a profound difference for students.”
However, board chair Mandi Skogen noted that while they're quite pleased with the overall results, there are “a few areas of concern” that NLPS has brought to the forefront and is working to address.
“We're always looking for ways to improve our services and the experience for our students.”
Taking into consideration the input from the strategic planning sessions in 2014-15, NLPS has identified priorities that they'll be focusing on as part of the 2016-2019 Three Year Education Plan, which is outlined in the report.
The first is to improve literacy and numeracy competencies, the second priority for the division is bettering communication with stakeholders, including parents, students and staff, as well as engagement and partnerships. The final focus will be on improving health and wellness for NLPS staff and students.
In addition to the three priorities set out by the division, Alberta Education has also identified five goals that school boards in the province must focus on for 2016-17: student success, eliminating the gap between First Nations, Métis and Inuit students and all other students, that the education system is inclusive, having excellent teachers, school and school authority leaders, and the education system is well governed and managed.
Included in the AERR is an extensive list of strategies of how they plan to address each of the goals and priorities, both from a division level and school-based.
“This is the first time we are doing the report this way. The AERR is our report card to the public, connecting it to our three-year plan really will allow our public to see what our goals are and how we did,” said trustee Arlene Hrynyk.
Digging deeper into reserves
NLPS will be increasing their spending for 2016-17 over the prior school year.
Also included in the document is a breakdown of revenue and expenditures for the division in 2015-16, as well as the budget for the current school year.
Last year, the division saw a revenue of just under $87.5 million, with the majority of that ($78.3 million) coming from Alberta Education. Their expenditures for 2015-16 ended at $85.9 million. Sixty-four percent of the total expenses, or $55.3 million, was spent on instruction.
While the division had originally planned on an operating deficit of $2.28 million in order to reduce the accumulated operating surplus, NLPS ended will a surplus of $1.5 million. This is mainly due to close to $4.3 million in additional revenue coming in from Alberta Education.
For 2016-17, the division has upped their spending to $90 million, subsequently increasing the instructional dollars allocated to $57.9 million.
“We have increased the spending in the budget to further drive into our reserves,” NLPS secretary-treasurer Paula Elock explained to the board. “We are going to be showing an annual deficit this year of $5.6 million after we implement all of the programs as explained in the AERR plan.”
Elock added, “Between the spring budget and the fall budget we went from a $3 million deficit to a $5 million deficit and most of that is in the contracted services and supplies.”
They are budgeting for a slight decrease in revenue for this school year, $84 million, primarily due to a drop in enrolment, with 90 per cent of the income from Alberta Education.
“We try to live by the motto of ‘today's dollars for today's students.' There are sometimes reasons for the schools to have a little more in reserves, if they're planning on making a bit bigger capital purchase, but we want to ensure that the majority of the money is spent in the year it's given,” noted Skogen.
The combined NLPS AERR/Three-Year Education Plan will be available for the public on the division website. A condensed one-page report outlining the division's goals and key strategies will also be released to stakeholders.
