Alberta’s school boards are in the process of collecting their thoughts this week, days after the province and the Alberta Teachers' Association announced they had reached a tentative agreement.

The Alberta School Boards Association held an emergency meeting Monday in Edmonton – where 60 of a total 62 school boards met behind closed doors on the matter.

ASBA officials said the association had been told the province wanted to hear whether the school boards supported the deal on the weekend, but the association needed an extra day to discuss the agreement.

On Monday afternoon, Education Minister Jeff Johnson made an appearance at the meeting, and told the media that the tentative deal was a good one as it brings stability to the classroom.

However, the minister admitted the deal will be a challenge for school boards.

“There are a lot of pressures under the budget for school boards, and they may have [fewer] teachers in the classroom next year than they did this year,” Johnson said. “Every community, every school, is going to be a little different.”

ASBA officials said they’re concerned the deal is essentially being imposed upon them; they said they’ve already warned programs or services may have to be cut.

Teachers still have yet to ratify the deal.

“There’s only so much money in our coffers, and we really have to be able to weigh the fiscal realities that we have,” ASBA President Jacquie Hansen said. “[We are] always trying to keep the cuts away from our kids as far as possible.

“We don’t think this agreement will allow us not to impact our kids, we think this will impact them no matter what.”

Edmonton Public School Board Chair Sarah Hoffman shared her concerns with her colleagues at Monday’s meeting – but would not share them publicly until after a meeting with her board members Tuesday.

Edmonton Public School trustees will meet on the matter Tuesday, ahead of their regular meeting – when they should release their decision on the tentative deal.

It’s hoped all of Alberta’s school boards will provide the province with an answer later this week.

With files from Susan Amerongen