Northern Lights School Division is clearing up some confusion after a few inaccuracies regarding funding for Catholic and Public schools were printed in a newsletter printed by the County of Lac La Biche.
The Division says says the December 2016 Edition of the Your County In Touch newsletter contained incorrect information that confused local residents. They’ve released a statement containing a few points clarifying some of the issues raised.
“1. All publicly-funded school boards, whether they are designated as Public (like Northern Lights Public Schools), or Separate (usually Catholic or Francophone), receive funding from Alberta Education based on the number of students enrolled in their schools on September 30th of any given year. The funding is the same regardless of whether a student is enrolled in a Public or Separate school.
2. Declaring to your municipality that you wish to be identified as Catholic does not affect the amount of funding any of your local school jurisdictions receives. The Separate Catholic school system does not receive “extra” money from property taxes based on the number of people who identify as Catholic in a particular geographic area.
3. Declaring to your municipality that you wish to be identified as Catholic DOES affect whom you can vote for in school board elections. If you declare yourself as Catholic, you can only vote for trustees who are running for election to the Separate Catholic school board. You will not be able to vote for trustees running for election to the Public school board, even if you send your child(ren) to a Public school.”
The Division encourages residents who want to learn more about how education property taxes are collected and distributed to visit www.nlsd.ab.ca for further information and resources.