ACT public schools are cutting support staff, increasing class sizes and combining small group programs to meet tight budgets as parents raise concerns about a lack of transparency over school funding.
The Canberra Times has obtained data that shows at least 58 schools will have their budgets cut in 2027 compared with the amount of funding received in 2026.
Of these schools, 37 schools will have a funding cut of more than 5 per cent.
The Education Directorate last month said only 19 schools would have a funding cut greater than 5 per cent.
It is understood Mount Rogers Primary, which will have to find almost $1 million in savings, has let go 27 of 30 of its learning support assistants (LSAs).
Majura Primary School, which will have a budget cut of $2.2 million, has moved learning support assistants from the preschool to the main primary school campus and has stopped giving shifts to casual learning support assistants.
Latham Primary will have a quarter of its budget slashed, which the largest proportional budget cut of all schools.
Kingsford Smith School will have to find $3.5 million in savings a few years after a special purpose review led to investment in the school.
The data obtained by this masthead covers 76 out of 94 public schools.
Education Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the directorate had been working with principals since June on the shift to a needs-based funding model based on the school resourcing review.
"We recognise this is a challenging conversation for a number of schools. Each of these schools has its own story, with different pressures and different opportunities to navigate while adjusting to the new model," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"That's why the Education Directorate has been working with each school on how they can deliver for their students, staff and community within their new funding allocation."
An Education Directorate spokesperson said no ACT public school has had its budget finalised for 2027, and final decisions have not been made regarding staffing profiles for next year.
"We appreciate the significant amount of work school principals and leaders are contributing to this process - and we understand it has been stressful.
"As discussions about budgets and staffing continue, the Education Support Office will work to support all school principals and leaders, recognising that no two schools are the same."
A staff member at an ACT primary school said parents had not been informed about cuts to learning support assistants.
"We have a lot of high-needs children. I don't think that's been looked at. Everybody's just got given this budget and had to make the cuts, but nobody's actually considering the level of support that the kids need," the staff member said.
"It's absolutely disgusting that this has been kept such a secret."
The staff member said cuts to learning support assistants would lead to health and safety risks because these staff members are integral to behaviour management.
"You have kids who run out of class and straight onto the road. And so the LSAs are usually the ones who are chasing after them or making sure that they're safe.
"These students are safe because the teachers are teaching... It's just going to be I think really hard. It's going to put a lot of pressure on teachers."
Eleri Harris said her child with level three and level two autism spectrum disorder and ADHD was only able to participate in school because he was supported by a learning support assistant since preschool.
"It's just made an enormous difference in his life and our life as a family generally. And it's helping him reach his potential. Without having an LSA, he would not be able to reach that full potential," Ms Harris said.
She said her child's school had already pulled its learning support assistants from the preschool but this hadn't been communicated to parents.
"I think that without those LSAs, you will see children being funnelled more into small groups programs who don't need to be there," she said.
"I think that taking out this really key function in the public school system will really highly disadvantage children in the future."
The specialist schools, which enrol students with high levels of disability, appear to be losing the most funding under the student resource allocation model. But a directorate spokesperson said the funding model without adjustment was not appropriate for specialist schools.
"That's why there's an additional $7 million in the 2027 school year across specialist schools above their SRA - so no specialist school will have less funding than in 2026."
ACT Parents executive officer Veronica Elliott said parents were very worried about cuts to staff and support for students.
"We don't have enough information to understand what's happening right now and what the impact will be next year," Ms Elliott said.
"We need to have some transparency around this. If there is genuinely a redistribution of resources according to student need, then the government should be able to show the community where resources are going and why they have moved and how this reflects the the needs of our students."
Ms Elliott said Parents and Citizens associations were feeling pressure to fund the gaps for core school programs, such as learning intervention programs, which was not traditionally what fundraising efforts were used for.
"How can we expect principals to make these decisions when they have to choose from a really difficult list of options, such as reducing what might be considered a core public education offering of music or art, having bigger class sizes, or providing less inclusion support."
The amount of funding each school receives is based on the student resource allocation.
However, last year 77 of 92 schools went over their budget, prompting the ACT government to pour an additional $43 million into the system. This year schools also got a one-off payment above their budgets.
Ms Stephen-Smith said an additional $40 million would be spent in 2027 to address complexity in schools.
Last month the Education Directorate said one college and 18 schools would have a significant budget cut of more than 5 per cent.
It said two colleges and 31 schools would have an increase of more than 5 per cent and the remainder would be within the 5 per cent threshold considered as part of normal enrolment fluctuations.
When asked whether the directorate had misled the community on the magnitude of budget cuts, the spokesperson said:
"Comparisons provided by the Education Directorate were between 2026 projected school budget expenditure and proposed 2027 projected school budgets. As with all modelling it is an estimate - however this was considered to be the most accurate comparison as this represents the actual current expenditure in schools.
"Schools were provided a one-off 2026 payment in addition to their budget, to temporarily support schools while further work was done to transition back to core funding allocations.
"We recognise there are different ways to make these calculations and appreciate the feedback received through the process."
