New classroom complexity teams to join eight BGSD schools

LEDUC -- Over half a dozen BGSD schools will be receiving new classroom complexity teams.

Each team consists of one teacher and two educational assistants with the goal to provide immediate, in-class relief for high-needs classrooms, manage disruptive behaviours, and assist with English language learning. This comes as a part of Alberta's Class Size and Complexity Grant, which was announced back on Feb. 12. Devonna Klaassen, Chair of the Black Gold School Division's Board of Trustees, says that while it's a positive first step, there are still even more schools in the division that could have benefited from the new teams.

"I recognize that these decisions were data driven, but my experience at this table of over nearly a decade, has shown me that there is also considerable nuance of local context that can't always be captured in a spreadsheet," said Klaassen. "With 32 schools in our division, and eight complexity teams being assigned, I know there isn't a single one of our schools that wouldn't benefit from additional support."

The province has selected the following BGSD schools to receive a complexity team: 

• École Dansereau Meadows School
• West Haven Public School
• École Bellevue School
• École Corinthia Park School
• East Elementary School
• Willow Park School
• École Leduc Estates School
• École Horizon Heights School

During the province's investigation into classroom complexity in schools across Alberta, they determined that most of the challenges were the result of 80,000 new students joining the education system in just the last three years. In an effort to alleviate some of these issues, $143 million was invested to create up to 476 complexity teams to be assigned to various school divisions across the province.

The government noted at the time that the initiative is the first phase in a multi-phased approach, though it isn't yet clear what the next phases will look like.