MOOSE JAW — New data shows that provincial education funding has not kept pace with inflation during the past nine years, as school divisions are facing funding shortfalls of nearly $2,000 per student.
Division administration with Holy Trinity Catholic School Division presented a report during the recent board meeting with information comparing historical funding to inflation-adjusted funding — using Saskatchewan’s consumer price index (CPI) — and how much school divisions should be receiving per student.
The report began with the 2016-17 school year when the Ministry of Education altered the funding formulas. This change marked the beginning of a divergence between the actual revenues and the CPI-driven revenues, setting the stage for the current funding and staffing challenges.
“We cut great programs (and staffing positions) out of schools at that time. It wasn’t a fun time to be around,” said Ward Strueby, director of education.
The report showed that in 2016-17, Holy Trinity received $23,308,821 in grant funding and had 2,044 full-time equivalent (FTE) students, so its actual revenues and CPI revenues were $11,403.53 per student.
In 2024-25, the Catholic school division expects to receive $28,123,332 in grant funding and have 2,325.3 FTE students, with actual revenues being $12,094.76 per student and inflation-adjusted revenues being $13,883.26 per pupil — a difference of $1,788.50 per youth.
Furthermore, this funding shortfall has had a negative effect on annual and cumulative revenues, the report said. In 2017-18, the first school year the province’s funding changes took effect, the school division failed to receive $1,658,301 in funding. That figure is expected to be $4.1 million in 2024-25.
Meanwhile, the cumulative effect of the annual underfunding means the province has shorted Holy Trinity $24,642,033 since 2017-18.
“It (the report) shows you there is a gap in the funding, and the gap is getting bigger as we’re moving forward, which isn’t a good thing,” said Strueby, noting the division could have hired 20 teachers or 60 educational assistants with that $1.65 million from 2017-18.
“It is an investment (in training teachers and EAs) … ,” said trustee Derek Hassen. “We’ve been handcuffed for a long time and it’s made me grumpy.”
Since the variance between actual and inflation revenues is $1,788.50 per student, that is 14.79-per-cent higher than what divisions receive now, which is a big difference, Strueby continued. If Holy Trinity were receiving that money, it wouldn’t have to use its reserves to cover expenses in the 2024-25 budget.
Furthermore, based on how much money the province has shorted the school division, the board has made “some very tough decisions” during the past few years, Strueby added.
While the division is “a little happier” this coming year because of more funding for increased enrolment, more work is required to return to previous funding levels.
Supports for learning
In June 2023, the province provided divisions with an extra $20 million in conditional supports-for-learning (SFL) funding for classroom complexity, Strueby said. Holy Trinity received $208,206, which is used to hire one FTE interventionist, two FTE educational assistants, a contracted educational psychologist and professional development for EAs.
In March 2024, school divisions entered into a multi-year funding agreement with the government, which provided an extra $28.6 million for conditional classroom supports.
Recently, the province announced that it would provide another $18 million to school divisions — Holy Trinity will receive $199,800 — through the tentative agreement with the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, increasing the conditional classroom support funding to $46.6 million.
Holy Trinity will receive an extra $94,761 from this agreement, which bumps its total conditional classroom complexity-related SFL funding to $302,967, Strueby said.
The division will use that new funding to hire one FTE student services support teacher (SSST) and the $199,800 from the STF-related agreement to hire 2.25 FTE SSSTs.
Overall, Strueby said Holy Trinity expects to receive $3.9 million in conditional and unconditional SFL funding, representing roughly 1.08 percent of the provincial total.
Insurance
The report also included data about how much money Holy Trinity has paid in insurance premiums during the past decade.
In 2014-15, the division paid $68,330 for insurance, while this year, that number grew to $111,818.
The next Holy Trinity board meeting is Monday, Aug. 19.
