The Chinook School Division is informing staff they may have to cut positions in the continued fallout of the 2017-18 provincial budget.
“We need to manage this deficit through looking at attrition, looking at retirements, looking at potential reductions. That’s the only way we can manage it,” Kyle McIntyre, Chinook School Division acting director of education said.
The division, which serves the Swift Current area, saw a funding reduction of $9.9 million dollars last March. The school board decided to spread the funding reduction over three years, reducing their budget by $6.5 million in their latest budget.
“Last year we did a review of every single program and every single personnel in our school division. We made the decision as a board and as an organization that we would make reductions outside of the classroom,” McIntyre said.
That reduction saw the removal of 33.75 full-time positions that provided centralized supports to schools. The division still has to find $3.3-$3.5 million over the next two years to balance their budget.
“One of the few remaining areas we can look at is staffing in schools. So we are doing an exhaustive review of staffing and programming,” McIntyre said.
“We want it to be a collaborative process. Unfortunately the way it looks there will be reduction in staffing in schools.”
READ MORE: Sask. budget brings significant changes to school division funding and decision-making
An internal memo was circulated to staff, which has been obtained by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF). Their press release indicates the division has 55 more full time positions than they are funded for.
“Knowing that’s on the heels of significant cuts that happened in the 2017/18 school year they were quite concerned what that meant for the future of students in that division,” STF president Patrick Maze said.
“Is it going to be 50, I sure hope not,” McIntyre said. “We need to make sure we have the proper programs and supports in place for kids.”
Chinook School Division has 425 teachers on staff and 475 support staff. This includes everything from bus drivers to educational assistants to speech language pathologists. McIntyre said two union groups on the support side have already agreed to pay freezes in their latest contracts in an effort to keep resources in the classroom.
As the Chinook School Division enters their second year of absorbing the $9.9 million cut, McIntyre said they are relying on reserves to balance the books. He did not immediately know the amount of money in reserves, but called the practice unsustainable.
The rest of Saskatchewan
The STF is also raising the alarm about cuts to classrooms in the upcoming provincial budget.
“We’ve been told that all school divisions were told to roll up their sleeves, that they did a good job in finding cuts last year and should do it again this year,” Maze said.
In a statement, Education Minister Bronwyn Eyre said that is not the case.
“First of all, the government has not directed school divisions to prepare for another round of cuts,” Eyre said.
“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 mentioned that all Saskatchewan Party leadership candidates have said education funding is a concern and priority in the upcoming budget. The Saskatchewan Party elects a new leader, who will become premier, on Jan. 27.
READ MORE: Regina Public Schools eliminate 22 teaching positions in 2017-18 budget
When asked if the STF may be pre-maturely sounding alarm bells about future cuts, Maze said the STF wants parents to be aware of what may happen.
“We worry that if the budget is released in March and it does have significant cuts for education it’s going to be too late for parents to express their concerns,” Maze explained.
“We know that divisions have to make quick action in order to prepare for students coming in in September. If that’s on a substantially reduced budget then that’s a huge concern.”
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