This year’s class-size averages across Pembina Hills Public Schools continue to be below the provincial averages and with the exception of Kindergarten to Grade 3, they are also below the Alberta Commission on Learning’s (ACOL) recommended targets.
That’s according to the results of the 2017-2018 Class Size Survey, which trustees accepted for information during their Dec. 13 meeting at the Sunny Bend Colony School northwest of Dapp.
Secretary-treasurer Tracy Meunier said that when the province introduced class-size funding roughly a decade ago, each school was required to submit numbers to the province annually.
That information is compiled into a summary report, and Alberta Education also made it a requirement for divisions to post their class sizes online.
Pembina Hills receives $760.84 for each Kindergarten student and $1,521.68 for each Grade 1-3 student from the province.
That works out to approximately $1.174 million which Pembina Hills distributes to schools according to its allocation formula “which has class size indirectly embedded in there,” she said.
Class size averages for 2017-2018 are 18.3 in Kindergarten to Grade 3, 20.6 students in Grades 4-6 and Grades 7-9 and 21.8 students in Grades 10-12.
Meunier said they don’t yet have the 2017-2018 class size information for the province, which will be coming to the division sometime early in 2018.
However, Pembina Hills was below the 2016-2017 provincial class size averages, which were 20.4 students in Kindergarten to Grade 3, 22.7 in Grades 4-6, 23.6 in Grades 7-9; and 23.4 in Grades 10-12.
“Traditionally we are below the province in each one of the categories,” said Meunier.
Another measurement that Pembina Hills can be compared to is the maximum class size targets established by ACOL.
Meunier said the province launched the Alberta Commission on Learning in 2001 to take a thorough look at education. They came up with 100-plus recommendations, including maximum class sizes — 17 students in K-3, 23 students in Grades 4-6, 25 students in Grades 7-9 and 27 students in Grades 10-12.
Meunier said it would be “impossible” to have 27 students in Grades 10-12 because you would never want to have that many students in a Career and Technology Services (CTS) lab, as it could create safety issues.
“We would never be at 27 in our rural jurisdiction for Grades 10-12,” she said.
As for Pembina Hills going over the K-3 targets, Meunier pointed out she couldn’t recall a year where the provincial average was below the ACOL target.
Meunier stressed that the survey was only one of many measurements used by Pembina Hills.
“It’s not a be-all and end-all,” she said.
The survey also includes school-specific averages.
At the K-3 level, Busby School had an average of 20 students, Eleanor Hall School in Clyde had an average of 19.4, Pembina North Community School had of 20.5 and Westlock Elementary School posted an average of 17.9s.
At the Grade 4-6 level, Busby had 19.5, Eleanor Hall had 17.8, Pembina North had 22.7 and Westlock Elementary had 18.9.
At the Grades 7-9 level, Eleanor Hall’s class sizes averaged 19.6 students, Pembina North averaged 20.9 and R.F. Staples School averaged 21.7.
Finally, at the Grade 10-12 level, the average class size was 22.4 students.
