The Canadian province of Alberta has 379 school authorities, which are sometimes referred to as school boards, school districts, or school divisions. Types include public school, separate school and francophone school authorities. There are also charter schools and private schools that act as their own authorities, as well as schools under the authority of early childhood services (ECS), private operators, and Federal Indian Affairs. Alberta's school authorities report to Alberta Education.

School authority types

Public

Alberta has 42 public school authorities.

Private

Alberta has 153 private school authorities.

Separate

Alberta has 17 separate school authorities.

Francophone

After a 1990 Supreme Court decision, based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms minority language rights provisions, Alberta established francophone school authorities to allow francophone communities to administer their own schools, and provide French language instruction, wherever numbers warrant. Alberta has four francophone school authorities.

Charter

Charter schools are independent of district school authorities and do not have public oversight. Each has its own board with powers similar to a district authority, but limited to a single school. Alberta has 21 charter school authorities which operate a total of 36 schools.