Advocates call on Edmonton Public Schools to halt seclusion room construction, division defends shift to sensory spaces

A petition calling on Edmonton Public Schools to end the construction of new seclusion rooms was presented at Tuesday’s board meeting, renewing public pressure over a controversial practice the division once promised to phase out.

Sarah Doll, advocate at Hold My Hand Alberta, spoke to the board on behalf of more than 500 families, educators and students who signed the petition in just one week.

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“In 2019, this division committed to phasing out seclusion rooms, a promise that mattered deeply to families who fought for a province-wide ban,” said Doll. “Six years later, and after this division lobbied to overturn that ban, there is still no plan, timeline or public accountability. Use has increased annually, and new rooms are still being built in division classrooms.”

The petition calls on the board to stop funding the construction of any new rooms that could be used to isolate students with disabilities “against their will.”

“Given that the division staunchly defended nearly $1 million in seclusion room construction costs last year, this sudden shift raises important questions,” she said. “Has there truly been a change in design, intent, or use?”

Edmonton Public Schools superintendent Darrel Robertson responded during the meeting, saying that the newly built sensory spaces are distinct from seclusion rooms.

“In Edmonton public, a sensory space is a dedicated space specifically designed to provide a calming and supportive environment to help regulate students,” Robertson said. “I can confirm that there is no locking mechanism on these sensory rooms. There is equipment in the room, so they’re actually not to be used as seclusion rooms at all.”

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Robertson said the division has worked to reduce the use of seclusion through staff training, behavioral planning and alternative strategies.

“We have very clear administrative regulations around the use of seclusion rooms, and we are incredibly transparent with how these rooms are used,” he said. “We have been working incredibly hard over the last year to bring down the use of seclusion in the division, Nobody wants to use a seclusion room. We want our kids to be happy and regulated and engaged in learning.”

He said the division has been incentivizing schools to repurpose existing rooms with sensory equipment and is piloting a training program called Studio Three to better support staff working with children with autism and other specialized needs.

2025–2026 distribution of funds report

The debate around seclusion room use came as trustees reviewed the 2025–2026 distribution of funds report, laying the groundwork for how schools and central departments will receive their budgets in the year ahead.

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Operational funding for the division is expected to rise to $1.24 billion, an increase of $50.5 million or 4.3 per cent compared to 2024-2025. This increase is largely driven by projected enrolment growth, higher grant rates, and a new provincial funding methodology known as the adjusted enrolment method (AEM). The new two-year AEM formula replaces the former weighted moving average (WMA) model and is designed to offer greater predictability and stability in school funding.

The change to the AEM formula reduces the number of unfunded students to 1,301 from 4,002 under the WMA, coinciding with the elimination of the supplemental enrolment growth grant, which provided $22.7 million in the current school year. Without this grant, the net funding increase from the AEM shift alone totals just $1.1 million, or two per cent of the overall $50.5 million increase.

Salaries, wages, and benefits remain the division’s largest cost driver, making up more than 79 per cent of the total operating costs and 96 per cent of the annual school-based operating budgets. Most staff groups, excluding teachers, are seeing unit cost increases between seven per cent and nine per cent, translating to nearly $25 million in additional costs. Teacher salary increases are expected to be offset by additional provincial funding.

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To maintain existing staffing levels despite rising costs, the division is planning to use $23 million from its accumulated operating surplus. Of this, $10 million will support unit cost relief for schools, with a total of $18.4 million allocated for that purpose.

While this measure helps balance the budget for the upcoming year, questions remain about its long-term sustainability.

“We’re seeing more sustainability, but there’s still more work to do, and we see that when we’re having to pull money out of our accumulated operating surplus to supplement staff unit costing needs due to increasing staff costs from wages, from benefits, that there is more work to be done when it comes to adequate funding so that we can have a sustainable budget moving forward,” said board chairwoman Julie Kusiek.

The province also introduced a new school technology grant to enhance cybersecurity measures and made changes to the transportation grant. Students in Grades 1–6 must now live at least 1.6 km from school, up from 1.0 km, to qualify for transportation funding. Transitional funding is expected, but no details have been shared yet.

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The division will also receive $7 million from the province’s mental health in schools pilot, which the division will use to expand partnerships with Alberta Health Services and community organizations.

cnguyen@postmedia.com

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