Trustees at the Calgary Board of Education have had their first look at the preliminary budget for the 2013-2014 school year.

Administration has used up all the board's reserve savings to balance the $1.2 billion budget but class sizes will go up, especially in high school. The cuts are meant to balance a shortfall of $62 million.

"It’s kind of hard to get in your chairs and stuff sometimes," says Matthew Janzen, a Grade 12 student at William Aberhart High School.

"It's a little ridiculous. We're kind of packed in there and the desks are side-by-side and there is not very much room behind each chair."

That’s before class sizes expand, which is expected to cover the funding shortfall from the provincial government, says Alberta Teachers' Association president Frank Bruseker.

In high school academic courses, classes will expand from the current average of 32 to 35 students to 38 to 40 students, he says.

Alberta is already one of the lowest provinces in the country in terms of the number of students completing Grade 12, says Bruseker.

"When you make things more difficult for those high school students, I have to believe that is going to have a negative impact."

Lesson prep time may be affected

The proposed budget will also impact the time teachers have to prepare lessons, says Bruseker.

He says that could result in teachers reducing their volunteer hours overseeing extracurricular activities.

"I'm talking about clubs, I'm talking about yearbooks, I'm talking about graduations, I'm talking about sports teams, whether that's interschool or intramural sport. Now we are starting to have an impact on student morale in high schools."

Trustees have a few more weeks to go over the numbers. They are expected to make a final decision on the proposed budget May 28.