Local school divisions have been named recipients of funding for new complexity teams.
Last week, the Alberta government announced a $143-million investment to hire 476 complexity teams, which will be comprised of one teacher and two educational assistants. The teams, to be deployed in K-6 schools, will support students with complex learning needs who are facing academic, behavioral, social, and emotional challenges.
“Embedding these teams in elementary schools helps prevent small challenges from becoming long-term learning barriers,” the province states in a release. “Research shows that addressing student needs in the early years is more effective and less costly than attempting to address behavioral or academic gaps later, in secondary school.”
In the Lethbridge area, the following divisions will be getting funding for teams:
- Lethbridge School Division: 10 teams
- Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate School Division: Five teams
- Horizon School Division: Five teams
- Palliser School Division: Five teams
My Lethbridge Now has reached out to the divisions to learn if it is known what specific schools have been chosen for teams.
“We welcome this additional funding to support our classrooms and appreciate the government’s recognition of the complexity we are seeing in our division,” says Lethbridge School Division superintendent Mike Nightingale, in an initial response following the announcement of funding.
“This investment represents an important first step in addressing the increasingly complex realities in our classrooms.”
Nightingale adds, “Complexity teams are a promising concept worth exploring.”
The division says as further details emerge, it is “actively recruiting staff to support classrooms with the goal of establishing complexity teams as quickly as possible once funding is received”.
CLASSROOM SIZE CONCERNS
The teams should also help address concerns with growing classroom sizes. The province notes the average class size in Alberta is 25 students.
Below are the average class sizes per grade division:
- Kindergarten to Grade 3 – 22 students
- Grades 4 to 6 – 25 students
- Grades 7 to 9 – 26 students
- Grades 10 to12 – 26 students
In rural schools, the average class size is listed at 23 students, while for urban and metro schools, the size is 26 students on average.
