The Government of Saskatchewan is providing an additional $40 million to Saskatchewan's school divisions following concerns raised by school divisions, teacher advocacy groups, and parents, who have asserted that the province is chronically under-funding education.
An announcement of the additional funding was made on Thursday, June 1. Education minister Dustin Duncan had promised a top-up in May following an April 29 "Rally for Education" in front of the Provincial Legislature, and suggested timing the top-up for November, similar to last year's top-up. He revised that plan after school divisions across the province complained they are required to submit final budget proposals by June 30.
"This funding is being provided to school divisions to respond to the needs of a growing and diverse province," the province said in a prepared statement.
"This 4.5 per cent increase in school operating when compared to last year is part of the government's commitment to ensuring students all across the province have access to high quality education," Duncan said.
Funding of $20 million will be provided to school divisions to address school enrolment growth, while an additional $20 million will go to hire classroom and other support staff such as teachers, educational assistants, speech language pathologists, counsellors, and educational psychologists.
Prairie South School Division is receiving $705,363 toward classroom support hiring, and $275,760 for operational funding in response to estimated enrolment growth. The combined total is $981,123 with this announcement, representing a 1.2 per cent funding increase.
Holy Trinity Catholic School Division will receive $208,206 for classroom supports, and $285,960 in operational funding, for a total of $494,166, or a 1.9 per cent increase in funding.
The funding percentage increases described by the province in their release are somewhat unclear, however. When the provincial budget was first announced in March, school division across the province — including in Moose Jaw — said that the increase to the education budget for 2023-24 amounted to between 0.7 and 0.8 per cent over the 2022-23 school year, falling far short of inflationary pressures, much less enrolment growth.
Updates and consultations since provincial budget day have resulted in some confusion about the final year-over-year percentage increases. MooseJawToday.com has reached out to financial officers at Prairie South School Division and Holy Trinity Catholic School Division for clarification on how the additional monies will affect their budgets for the coming year.
