Alberta charter schools to get new startup funds, construction dollars

Alberta's charter schools are receiving a new injection of provincial funding that system proponents have long pushed for.

And an organization that advocates for the province's 15 charter schools says regulatory changes are coming that will make it easier for people to start and run a charter school.

"Public charter schools for a very long time felt like second-class citizens," said Ron Koper, chair of the Association of Alberta Public Charter Schools (TAAPCS) in an interview this week. "And it is wonderful to be able to say that we're being recognized as being contributors to the public system."

In the province's budget, unveiled last week, the government says it intends to spend $47 million during the next three years on construction and land costs for charter school and collegiate expansions – particularly for schools that pair with post-secondary institutions and employers to develop skills and trades.

There's another $25 million over three years for equipment and furniture to help these schools get going. Koper says such startup costs can be a substantial hurdle for grassroots groups who want to start a new charter school.

Although the government won't release school funding details yet for the coming year, several sources within the charter system say, for the first time, the schools will receive the same funding for students with extra needs as public schools.

"I'm super excited about that, because we have been writing letters and having meetings and fighting for equity for these students," said Nicole Palmer, chair of the Suzuki Charter School board in Edmonton.

Since they took office in 2019, the United Conservative Party government has tried to create a more flexible environment for charter schools. Alberta is the only province with charters.

When people in a community want a school that has a unique focus or subscribes to a teaching style not offered in any public school, they can propose a charter school to the government. The province can't create a charter school – grassroots communities have to request them.

Since the government changed the law to allow charter schools in 1994, there had been a cap of 15 of them in the province. The UCP government lifted that cap in 2019, and in 2020, changed charter school regulations to become more flexible. Education Minister Adriana LaGrange also lifted the schools' enrolment caps, which have prompted lotteries and waiting lists for students.

Last week's throne speech promised even more regulatory changes and resources for the schools.

Although the government won't yet reveal those regulatory changes, Koper said charters have asked for permission to buy and sell land, construct schools, and own property, which is currently not allowed.

Edmonton's music-focused Suzuki Charter School could badly use more space, board chair Palmer says. It's housed in a former Edmonton public elementary school building in Capilano.

In response to parent demand, Suzuki began expanding to the junior high grades last year. The 385 students in kindergarten through Grade 8 arrive at school toting instrument cases, from flutes to cellos. The hallways are lined with instrument storage racks.