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By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

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Red Deer Catholic cancels Family School Counsellor Program amid budget constraints

Jul 2, 2025 | 10:16 AM

A Blackfalds parent is concerned about the degree of supports available to her children after Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) informed her family it will be cancelling its Family School Counsellor (FSC) Program for the coming school year.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the parent said her children had been utilizing the program for support as she and her partner went through a separation and divorce, offering them a safe and neutral party to share their thoughts with.

“They provided a bond with the kids, and understanding,” she commented. “Instead of only being able to talk to just me or their dad, they had this neutral person they could go to that could be understanding for them, and help provide insight into how to support the kids better through a separation.”

In May, she received a letter from RDCRS informing her that the Family Support Counselling Program would be terminated as of June 27 due to budget constraints.

The division will maintain its school-based counsellor program, however. Nicole Zimmerman, Director of Inclusion, said this program supports students within the school community, through a mix of universal, group and individual counselling sessions.

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The FSC Program, on the other hand, also assisted with navigating resources outside of the school, she explained.

For our source, this included help with securing food support and recreation passes for her family, for example.

Red Deer Catholic confirmed the decision to cut the program was made during the development of the 2025-26 budget, stating that the decision was not made lightly.

“We looked at various scenarios for reducing expenditures to ensure we could operate within our approved budget. Ultimately, we determined that the Family Support Counselling Program, particularly the family school counsellors, was operating in an area beyond our core mandate and unfortunately without dedicated, sustainable funding,” explained Laurel Latka, RDCRS secretary-treasurer.

She added, while the division understands the value of the services the program provided, it wasn’t sustainable with its current structure.

“We truly understand the impact this decision may have had on the individuals and families who relied on the program,” she said. “Moving forward, we’re dedicated to optimizing our offerings to continue providing valuable and impactful services to our community here in Red Deer.”

By prioritizing the school-based counsellor program, Zimmerman added the division can ensure it has a school counsellor available in every school, as some schools have not had a counsellor in the past.

The concerned parent said she doesn’t feel like the cut has students’ best interests in mind and believes it could negatively impact their classroom learning.