The Chinook School Division says it has no choice but to look at staffing cuts within schools to balance its books.
The division, which is responsible for schools in the Swift Current area, says it needs to close a budget shortfall of $3.5 million after funding cuts from the province last year.
“Last year, there was an educational finance review, there was a change to how school divisions were funded, there was a provincial deficit. All of those factors together resulted in a $9.9-million reduction of funding to Chinook,” said Kyle McIntyre, the division’s acting director of education.
McIntyre says they tried to make reductions as far away from the classroom as possible.
“We reduced 33.75 full-time equivalents from our central office supports.”
The division still has to find $3.5 million in savings to balance its budget, according to McIntyre.
He says the division is embarking on a two-year process to balance its budget and has engaged staff in discussions on saving money, but he notes layoffs are a possibility.
“That is a possibility. We have no other area where we can reduce,” he said. “No one wants to do this. The board doesn’t want to do it. I don’t want to do it. Our staff doesn’t want to do it. But we have a responsibility to balance our budget.”
McIntyre says they are getting input on how to balance their budget but still want to ensure they have the right supports for students.
Concerns over upcoming budget
The issue has sparked reaction from the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, the provincial government and the Opposition.
The teachers’ federation mentioned the Chinook School Division in a news release, saying school boards have been warned to plan for cuts in the next provincial budget.
“We’ve just come through a year where we’ve seen a growing number of students, 188 fewer teachers, cuts to programs and layoffs of teaching assistants. Now the provincial government is planning more cuts in education,” STF president Patrick Maze said.
The NDP says more cuts would mean larger class sizes and affect education.
“This year, there are already about 4,500 more kids on Saskatchewan classrooms and 188 fewer teachers and support workers in our kids’ schools. More cuts, will mean class sizes will go up and Saskatchewan kids won’t get the education they deserve and we need them to get,” Saskatchewan NDP Youth Critic Vicki Mowat said in a statement.
But the province issued a statement from Education Minister Bronwyn Eyre refuting the claim the government has indicated more cuts are on the table.
“First of all, the government has not directed school divisions to prepare for another round of cuts. In fact, the Premier, myself and Cabinet are very aware of the significant pressures facing classrooms and have been actively considering options for addressing this, not only in next year’s budget, but also in the current year’s budget. No decisions have been made yet,” Eyre said.
The province pointed out that education has been a talking point in the Saskatchewan Party’s leadership race.
McIntyre also said the division has not received warning about more cuts.
