Sask. school divisions struggle with financial pressure despite ‘record’ education budget

School districts in Saskatchewan make it clear that financial challenges remain, despite the province’s efforts to address capacity issues in the most recent budget.

Both public and Catholic schools in Regina have been forced to dip into their reserves, citing deficits and the effects of inflation.

The Regina Public School Board received $23.5 million more in provincial funding than last year.

Regardless, an increase in the most recent budget will not undo the underfunding of recent years, said Board Chair Sarah Cummings-Truszkowski.

“For the past eight years, public education in Saskatchewan has been severely underfunded. And as much as this is a boost for us, we’re also just climbing out of the valley. So we’re still not where we need to be,” she explained.

“Last year our funding per student was about $9,600. This year it’s going to be a little over $10,000. That’s great, it’s up a little bit, but. But it really should be $12,000 or more.”

Regina Catholic Schools is also relying on reserve funds to cover a $1.5 million shortfall, primarily due to salaries and transportation costs.

“In order to balance the budget, we are using $1.5 million from external restricted reserves,” CFO Josh Kramer told CTV News. “These reserves are funds that have been set aside for these specific reasons. We received the funds in the previous fiscal year.”

These desperate measures come after the province reports that Regina Catholic has received a $17.5 million, or 14.3 per cent, increase in its annual budget.

The problem of budget deficits is not only visible in the provincial capital.

The Prairie Valley School Division projects a $600,000 deficit for the 2024-2025 budget year.

“Increased funding for more frontline staff and some special inflation funding will allow Prairie Valley to continue to address the complexities of rural classrooms,” Board President Janet Kotylak said in a June 25 press release.

“However, many more provincial education budget increases are needed to ensure students receive the full range of programs and services they need and deserve.”

All told, the division’s budget will increase to $109 million, or 2.6 percent. Five positions to address the complexity of the rural classroom will be added, costing $1.3 million. Total staffing will increase by 10.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions.

The budget also includes a nearly $1 million increase for transportation, as well as some additional money for support staff pay raises.

Even with the additional funding, the department expects transportation to still have an $850,000 shortfall in 2025, while $3 million in support staff pay raises will still be unfunded.

Kotylak echoed the sentiments of other divisions, calling the most recent budget “a good start” to restoring sustainable investment in public education.

“But you can’t make up for seven years of underfunding in one budget,” she explained.

As teachers faced massive unemployment, the Saskatchewan government announced a record $3.3 billion budget for the Ministry of Education in March.

Saskatchewan’s 27 school divisions received $2.2 billion in operating funding, an increase of $180 million from the previous year.

In a statement to CTV News, the Department of Education said funding on budget day is based on expected enrollment and will be updated in the fall once actual enrollments are verified.

The ministry also stressed that this school year is the second time that a formula is being used to support the growth in the number of pupils within the school year.

“Education is a shared responsibility in Saskatchewan,” the ministry’s response read. “While government provides funding to school divisions, staffing and programming decisions are the responsibility of the school divisions and must be made within their allocated budgets.”

Once the 2024-2025 school budgets are finalized, they will be reviewed by the Ministry of Education.