Saskatoon public schools announce more fees, higher number of students for next year

Saskatoon public schools say they will charge more supervision fees, hire more teachers, and see a record number of students next year.

The announcements were made as part of the Saskatoon Public School Board’s (SPSB) 2023-24 budget.

Secondary schools will start charging $50 per student per year and the elementary lunch supervision fee will stay at $100 per student, per year, an SPSB news release said.

They’ve also decided to eliminate post-pandemic outreach workers and learning support teachers as the one-time funding for these positions has been spent, the release said.

Teacher librarian positions will be reduced to three from 6.75, and the Alternate Education Transition program to the central office will be dissolved, SPSB said.

“The students have met graduation requirements and have the opportunity to upgrade two classes for free, similar to any other student who has graduated,” the release said.

“We’re appreciative of the additional funding we’ve received,” board chair Colleen MacPherson said.

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“That said, there is still chronic underfunding pressures throughout the division we will need to address, but the focus of this budget is directly supporting classrooms where the resources are needed most.”

The Saskatchewan government announced a record $3.1 billion for education in the 2023-2024 budget, which was 6.7 per cent more than in 2022.

SPSB said the increase to their operating funding was $2.8 million for a total operating grant of $256 million. On June 1, the government announced an additional $40 million for schools in the province.

“Saskatoon Public School’s share is potentially as high as $8.0 million dollars with $2.7 million allocated to address class size and complexity and up to $5.3 million allocated to enrolment growth depending on the number of students registered in the fall,” the release said.

SPSB will be adding 22 new elementary teachers and 13 secondary teachers, 13 education assistants, five elementary resource teachers, and 3.5 English as an additional language teachers.

“The school division is expecting an additional 1,036 students in September 2023, which means our total enrolment will top 28,000,” MacPherson said.

“We are excited to welcome so many new students but with increased enrolment comes increased pressures so we’ve chosen to invest every additional dollar at the classroom level to better support our students and staff.”