The Regina Public School Board approved their 2017-18 budget Wednesday night, which includes significant changes to busing and a reduction in the amount of full-time teachers.
“There is no doubt that this has been one of the most challenging budget processes that our school division has undertaken in many years,” Greg Enion, Regina Public School Division (RPSD) education director said at the beginning of the meeting.
Several tough decisions had to be made because the board grappled with an estimated $9.5 million shortfall. They received a provincial funding decrease of $5.7 million. The remainder comes from the added cost of three new schools opening in September.
Among these difficult decisions was the elimination of 22 full-time classroom teacher positions. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be 22 fewer teachers.
“Rather than totally eliminating positions having some staff that don’t have current teaching assignments, moving them to teach one class or some level of teaching,” Enion explained.
Any job losses will be handled through attrition. This staffing reduction is expected to result in a 0.48 per cent increase to the pupil-teacher ratio.
The division office will also see a full-time job reduction of 5.75 positions.
Some school programs will only see a reduction, while swimming and canoeing programs are being cut entirely. Other saving measures include the reduction of professional development programs for staff and a 2.5 per cent reduction in decentralized school budgets.
READ MORE: Regina schools end preschool programs due to provincial budget cuts
These changes add to previously announced saving initiatives, including bus service for students that live within a kilometer of their school, and full, alternating days of Kindergarten. Currently, Kindergarten students go to school for half days, everyday. The change is happening because it will provide additional transportation savings.
READ MORE: Parents start petition over changes to Regina Public School bus routes
Non-ministry designated early entrance programs will still be phased out. The two most notable programs are Discovery Preschool, which is tailored for children with autism, and Communication Preschool for the hard of hearing.
This phase-out is worth $1.29 million.
In April, Education Minister Don Morgan said he would not approve a budget that cut these programs. Since then, the ministry and board have been talking about ways to salvage the programs, but an announcement isn’t expected until later in the summer.
READ MORE: Regina mom calls Education Minister comments about restoring preschool funding insulting
For Michelle Grodecki, whose twin boys attended Communication Preschool, the time to act is now.
“I know families where parents are having to quit their jobs knowing that there’s not a preschool available for these kids. There’s no education options, and there’s nothing equivalent,” she said.
Grodecki will be meeting with the education ministry in the near future to share her input. She plans to make the case for joint federal-provincial funding to revive the preschool, and potentially extend them across Saskatchewan.
Even with the cuts, the budget still had a $1 million deficit. That deficit will be covered by dipping into reserves. Enion said they don’t want to make a habit of using reserves to balance the budget because that is unsustainable.
The budget will be forwarded to Minister Morgan for final approval.
Potential Shared Buses
RPSD board trustees are bracing for two more years of tough budgets, as the provincial government continues its three year plan to balance the budget.
Because of this, finding savings will be top of mind in the next school year.
One avenue being investigated is potential shared transportation between the public and Catholic schools. The two divisions will work with the Ministry of Education to determine a way where they can merge transportation on certain routes for Kindergarten-Grade 8 students.
More details will be announced once the divisions complete their memorandum of understanding
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