Rural Alberta school moving to 4-day week, losing a teacher amid funding challenges

A schooltime set in Byemoor, a little Alberta crossroads nigh 250 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, is reducing its teaching staff from four teachers to three because of funding challenges. The K-9 school is also shifting to just a four-day week, though it will extend classroom hours by about an hour Mondays through Thursdays.

He said while parents were consulted about the shorter week, losing a teacher is a big blow for families.

“You fear that the education will be less than what it was last year,” he said, noting he understands the Clearview Public School Division had to make a hard decision after a few families transferred to other schools.

Supt. Scot Leys said the changes were triggered when enrolment for the coming year dropped to 32. In the most recent school year, Byemoor School had 35 or more students. 

Schools that have less than 35 students enrolled receive significantly less guaranteed funding from the province. Because of its reduced enrolment, Byemoor School will lose about $260,000 in provincial block funding, according to Leys.

To minimally maintain K-9 programming, Leys said the school division is stepping in to cover the gap temporarily.

“We're subsidizing Byemoor School to the tune of $170,000 — $30,000 of that will come from the school's reserves,” he said, adding the remaining funds were reallocated from other regions within the division.

Leys said the changes are a one-year experiment to maintain core staff and potentially attract new families to the school  because of the shorter week. He said a full review will take place next year.

Clearview Public Schools board chair Guy Neitz said he is hopeful there will be changes to the funding formula that could benefit Byemoor School.

He said the school division received a response from Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in June regarding a letter school division officials wrote late last year to raise concerns about the funding cliff for rural schools.

“We have a level of expectation and some hope that we'll see some funding changes for our small rural schools,” Neitz said. “Hopefully it'll be at a level that we can keep these small schools open.”

The ministry said Clearview Public Schools is projected to receive $34.7 million in 2026-27, a 2.3 per cent increase from last year.

The statement added that the Rural Small Schools Grant will receive approximately $135 million this year, and the provincial government will continue reviewing the grant to ensure it meets the needs of rural students.

Smith said he and other parents hope the move to a four-day week will help retain teachers, as most of Byemoor School’s staff commute 70 kilometres to get to work from the Stettler area.

While the hamlet has a population of around 30 people, the school also draws students from several surrounding farming communities.

Byemoor School is not the first school in the division to transition to less school days per week. Leys said the school division consulted with Brownfield School, another rural school in the district that has been on a four-day week for over 20 years.

To manage academic fatigue during the longer days, Leys said the strategy relies on scheduling intense academics first thing in the morning when children are fresh, and building in extra breaks.

The community is also stepping up to help with the transition. A volunteer-run “Friday Club” is in the works to help alleviate child-care challenges for working parents navigating the shorter school week.

Smith said the parents’ association is collaborating with the school division to have community volunteers run programming at the school on Fridays.

“We will fundraise in order to allow kids to be basically sent to school on their own choosing if they need somewhere to go with their children on those Fridays that we would normally, otherwise have had Friday school,” he said.

Byemoor’s struggle reflects a broader crisis across Alberta as rural populations decline. Like Clearview Public Schools, other school divisions,  including the Prairie Rose, Buffalo Trail and Grande Yellowhead, have also sent letters to Nicolaides advocating for changes to the funding model for rural schools.

According to the Ministry of Education, 14 small rural schools closed their doors in Alberta between 2019 and 2024.

Neitz said he hopes the province recognizes the reality of rural demographics.

“Without a change in how rural schools are funded, we just are not going to see these schools remain open,” he said. 

“We can't continue to run at that level of a shortfall.”

If Byemoor School were to close, Neitz said students would either be divided among three nearby schools, or would have to take buses for up to three hours a day to attend classes in Stettler.

Smith said that to him, that alternative is unacceptable for children. If the school were to reduce programming or even be shuttered because of lack of funding, he said it would be “devastating” for his community, and that he believes the hamlet’s viability would be at stake. 

“This is a hub. … It’s what keeps us interwoven,” Smith said, noting there are generations of families in the community, including his wife, who have attended Byemoor School.

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