BGSD approves operational budget for 2025-2026

LEDUC -- The Black Gold School Division has approved its 2025-2026 operational budget.

This comes as the BGSD's Board of Trustees tabled the fall budget update at their latest meeting on Dec. 17, 2025. According to the school division, this year's budget projects $168.9 million in revenue and $171.1 million in expenses. Associate Superintendent Chelsey Volkman says this has resulted in a deficit of $2.2 million for the current school year.

"The planned deficit will be used to provide staffing to limit increases to class sizes," said Volkman. "Support the diverse needs of students, and support start-up costs for the Calmar Secondary Collegiate School."

She says that the decrease in both revenues and expenses in the fall budget update compared to the spring approved budget is due to lower than projected student enrollment as of September 29, 2025. The Division is budgeting that operating reserves, excluding School Generated Funds, will be $5.9 million and capital reserves will be $5.8 million as of August 31, 2026.

"The fall budget includes a number of assumptions due to the Alberta Teacher Association job action and the timing of the implementation of the new 2024-2028 ATA Collective Agreement," said Volkman. "Administration has mitigated these unknowns by budgeting conservatively."

Instructional costs make up 78.2 per cent of the BGSD's total expenses for the current school year at $133.8 million. This is followed by operations and maintenance at $24.1 million and transportation at $7.4 million. Meantime, $160.9 million of the BGSD's total revenue comes from provincial funding.