Saadiq Sumar for Ward G

Ensuring High Quality Public Education

1. Ensuring Adequate Funding

Saadiq will advocate for equitable per-student funding, champion increased resources for students with complex and diverse needs, seek to mitigate the negative impact of provincial and federal legislation and decisions that burden school boards.

• Increasing Base Funding

It’s no secret that education doesn’t receive its fair share of funding from the provincial government. Funding for education in Alberta is the lowest across the country and is essentially frozen while Edmonton’s student population continues to grow (in 2024, Edmonton was in the top five cities across Canada and the United States for population growth). This means that, every year, there is less money per EPSB student. The current model of getting larger school divisions like EPSB to cover shortfalls with reserve funds is unacceptable and unsustainable.

Saadiq will champion equitable funding on a per student basis on a province wide basis rather than the current model, which adversely impacts growing school divisions. This includes more funding per student, but also more funding for students who need additional support. With almost 5,000 new students entering EPSB each school year, Saadiq will work to ensure equity and the highest possible level of success for each student.

• Meeting Student and Staff Needs

EPSB has a proud history of offering many specialized programs for students with complex needs; however, as classroom settings become more complex, additional staff and resources are needed to appropriately support students. Those additional resources will mean that families will choose the classroom setting that will work best for them. Saadiq has been working with families and administration to make these resources and programs available to students who could benefit from them and will continue to support this important work.

Changes to inclusive education funding implemented by the provincial government has significantly changed EPSB’s ability to provide timely and high quality supports for students with diverse learning needs. Research shows that early intervention is critical, so funding and programming reductions push these interventions far too late for some students. Saadiq will push for funding to be restored and for evidence-based practices and policies at a school board level. Furthermore, Saadiq will work to prevent further erosion to funding for students with additional needs, including students with complex needs and refugee students.

In addition, Saadiq will work with post-secondary institutions to include appropriate special needs credits for teachers so that first year teachers are not overwhelmed when starting their careers. As your trustee, Saadiq will work to ensure that the trained professionals working with students receive the best possible education to achieve success, and that students will become productive members of the community.

During his term, Saadiq has been resolute to have the Standards for Special Education updated, which were last modified more than twenty years ago. Saadiq will remain steadfast in pursuing an update to these standards and obtaining any resources required through these updates.

• Government Legislation and Decisions

Recent legislation passed by the provincial government has increased the burden already on school boards and also limited their ability to generate capital funding. For example, changes to legislation around local elections has increased the cost of this upcoming election by a factor of approximately 50%, or almost $2M. These are dollars meant to be used in the classroom that school boards are now having to redirect to elections.

Another example of this is the way school properties are now being managed by the province. Previously, school sites that were surplus to division needs could be sold at market value. With the Real Property Governance Act, divisions are now limited to net book value. This means that a property with a market value of $5M for example could now be sold for only a few hundred thousand, impacting a school board’s ability to recover valuable capital dollars, not to mention that these properties, intended for public use, could be transferred to private entities at little to no cost.

The federal government has also made decisions that affect EPSB’s ability to serve students. The recent changes to Jordan’s Principle funding are an example of this. Indigenous students who are educated off reserve are no longer eligible to apply and supplement provincial funding, seemingly contradicting the intentions under which the funding was established. Saadiq has been adamant that this funding be restored, spearheading advocacy efforts with the new Federal Government to obtain funding through this program that has already been guaranteed to students and reverse changes so that EPSB students continue to receive this funding. Saadiq is keen to work with local MPs to make this funding available to EPSB students once again.

2. Providing High Quality Education for All Students

Saadiq opposes both the manner and the pace at which the provincial government is changing curriculum. He is a strong advocate for anti-racism, anti-discrimination, and reconciliation initiatives and is committed to protecting gender diverse students from discriminatory legislation. He will also advocate for more mental health resources and removing barriers to education for all children.

• Curriculum Changes

Like families and caregivers across the province, Saadiq shares the concern that Alberta’s globally admired curriculum continues to be dismantled by the current provincial government for political gains. Maintaining a top-tier and non-partisan curriculum is key to preparing students for success in their future careers, academic studies, and life goals. As your trustee, Saadiq will continue to work with local and provincial partners (the Alberta Teachers' Association, the Alberta School Boards Association, Public School Board Association of Alberta, and other school boards) to prevent the implementation of this outdated and regressive draft curriculum, which would put Edmonton’s learners at a disadvantage compared to their national and international peers. 

• Racialized and 2SLGBTQIA+ students and families

It is important to recognize that system discrimination exists within EPSB. The continued rise in hateful rhetoric in our province and across the country and the passing of legislation and policies to further discriminate and harm students has only served to exacerbate this.

Saadiq has been uncompromising in supporting anti-racism, anti-discrimination, equity, and reconciliation initiatives, pushing back against homophobia and transphobia within and external to the Division. Saadiq will work to implement important training for all EPSB staff, take more substantive action to combat systemic racism, and work with Administration to review hiring practices so that students see themselves reflected in the staff at their schools.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Saadiq will work with Treaty 6 partners to address Calls to Action 62 and 63 of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission and review what content can be made available to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students on topics of residential schools, treaties, and Indigenous rights. Gaps in knowledge lead to misunderstanding and prejudice. Limiting education on Indigenous topics to a single day or a single event like a field trip during the school year is insufficient and does not meet the standard of reconciliation.

For Edmonton’s gender diverse student population, Saadiq will push back on newly passed legislation and announcements that erode protections for staff and 2SLGBTQIA+ students and open the door for student discrimination and harassment. It is unacceptable that 2SLGBTQIA+ students feel unsafe fully participating in classrooms and school programming and that staff can be disciplined for making classroom environments safe, welcoming, and caring spaces.

• Support for all Children

In several discussions with students and families, it is clear that one of the resources of greatest need is additional mental health supports for students. EPSB is not alone in this regard and additional resources are needed from the province to address mental health concerns. Saadiq has liaised with different organizations including Kickstand, the Zebra Centre and the Greater Edmonton Health Advisory Council to find ways to better support students. Rather than spending dollars meant for the classroom, health funding and resources should be sought to support students and utilized where students already are to mitigate transportation and accessibility barriers.

Saadiq also believes that all school-aged children deserve high quality public education, regardless of ability or socio-economic or immigration status. Saadiq will advocate to remove barriers so that all students are welcome and funded to receive an education. Saadiq will also work with administration to enrol students where space is available and establish a sanctuary schools policy to safeguard student information

3. Expanding Learning and Community Spaces

Saadiq will champion new construction and modernization projects to keep pace with Edmonton’s growing population and address mounting deferred maintenance. Saadiq will also advocate for schools to be used as community hubs, ensuring that students have a high-quality learning environment and that schools can better serve their surrounding communities.

• New Construction

The number of students in EPSB continues to increase, but the number of facilities to appropriately and equitably educate these learners has not kept pace. To ensure EPSB students receive the best education, more classrooms are needed. This will lead to smaller classroom sizes, better student learning environments, and less burden on staff. Saadiq will advocate for new schools and facilities to better serve the growing number of students in the division. 

This is of particular importance with the School Construction Accelerator Program, as the window is closing to increase the capacity of the public school system and modernize existing school spaces.

• Modernizations

Not only does Edmonton have an insufficient number of facilities, the existing facilities are aging rapidly and they need funding to be appropriately maintained, upgraded, or replaced. The deferred maintenance bill has exceeded $1 billion. EPSB is not unique in this regard (other educational institutions and boards are facing the same issue), but that does not mean that this unpaid bill should continue to be passed down to future generations. As your trustee, Saadiq will continue to work to prioritize deferred maintenance projects and secure funding to reduce the deferred maintenance bill for EPSB.

• Community and Social Services

With more and more space in schools being used for teaching and learning, the amount of space for community programming and social services is decreasing. Schools are often in the tough position of having to reclaim space in order to mitigate large classroom sizes and increasing enrolment in schools. Saadiq will advocate to the province to use schools as community hubs, where students can learn and thrive, but that also can serve the needs of the communities in which schools are located. EPSB had great examples of these types of spaces and it is important to continue to demonstrate to the province the potential and the benefit of these hubs within our communities.