Regina Public Schools sent a letter out to their staff, informing them that they will be looking to save money after not receiving the funding needed to maintain their current service levels.
Darren Boldt, the Director and CEO of Regina Public Schools, said that the letter was sent to inform staff that the division would be looking to save money.
Regina Public Schools received an operational funding increase of one per cent or $2.5 million; however, the division needed a three per cent increase or $7.5 million to maintain the status quo.
Boldt said the division is working to lessen any impacts but noted there would be some felt.
“It’ll have impacts probably across our school division and also potentially impact parents. We’re still working on the minor details of our budget that will be approved ultimately in June by our board,” he said. “However, it will be looking like we would have fewer teachers in front of students on average than we have right now.”
“We’ll see an impact on potential fees for families; We’ll see an impact on transportation,” he continued.
Some of the impacts listed in the letter include charges to parents for lunch-time supervision; reducing spending on technology, learning resources and facility projects; and reducing instructional positions in schools.
Boldt said they will not be laying off staff but won’t replace any retiring or resigning staff.
“All of those reductions would be done through attrition,” he said. “We have a certain number of retirements every year and resignations, and all of those reductions would happen that way. We will not see any job loss; it will all be done with attrition.”
Earlier this week, Premier Scott Moe committed that more money would come to school divisions, but no timetable or exact dollar figure was given.
Boldt said they would welcome any extra funding with open arms.
“It’s never too late to have a funding adjustment or a budget adjustment, and we would welcome it any time,” he said. “Obviously, the sooner we get it, the easier it is for us to change.”
He said that even if the funding were to come after their budget was passed, they would still be able to make adjustments.
“If we received it after that and we were able to add staff, the schools would just have to go back and redo, so it would be extra work.”
The letter comes after the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation held a rally which thousands of education workers, parents, and students attended, asking for more funding.
Boldt said that he believes the way the Ministry of Education does its projections needs to change.
“I think the way we provide projections to the Ministry of Education, in terms of how many students we are expecting to have for the following school year, how that works in their budget, and then when actuals come out, I think conversations need to happen around that.”
According to Boldt, it has been difficult for the division over the last few years to predict how many students they will have. He noted that they saw 800 more students in their schools than were projected in the previous year, primarily due to immigration to the province and City.
Boldt added that he wants to reassure parents that they will do everything possible to prevent classroom impacts.
“Our focus is and always will be on the classroom; that’s the last place we want to see an impact, so we will do everything we can to have as little impact on the classroom as possible with this budget. We just recognize that there will be some impacts.”
