PSD adds new teachers, complexity teams

STONY PLAIN -- New classroom complexity teams are being added to schools across the Parkland School Division.

This comes after the PSD secured more than $4,000,000 in provincial funding earlier this year through three separate allocations. The first came in February 2026 when the division received $600,000 from Alberta Education and Childcare's newly established class size and complexity grant to fund two elementary school complexity teams for the 2025-2026 school year. 

"The government made determinations about what schools met the criteria to receive complexity teams, and for Parkland we received two complexity teams -- one at Westview, and one at Copperhaven School. Both of those involve one teacher and two educational assistants," said Associate Superintendent Meghan Miskolzie.

Then, in the spring, the PSD received $2,565,000 through the provincial Class Size Reduction Grant to hire new classroom teachers at the K–9 level for the 2026-2027 school year. The grant is calculated on a per-teacher basis, applying a set provincial rate to the number of new teaching full-time equivalent positions allocated to the division. 

"The division identified and collected updated data from schools around projected numbers. We identified fourteen schools division-wide that were the priority sites for new teachers," said Associate Superintendent Bryn Spence.

Over the summer, an additional $1,027,848 from Alberta Education and Childcare's class size and complexity grant was secured for the 2026-2027 school year, specifically to fund complexity teams at the grades 7–12 level. Associate Superintendent Miskolzie says each of these new teams is made up of one teacher, one EA, and up to two additional FTE providing specialized behavioural supports, and these teams are able to move between schools as needs change.

The province's classroom complexity teams aim to provide hands-on, in-class support for teachers and students in high-need classrooms, and to manage diverse behavioral and academic challenges.