Disappointment, frustration as Saskatoon Public Schools moves ahead with cuts

Disappointment, frustration and a few tear drops.That was the scene around the Saskatoon Public SchoolDivision's board meeting on Tuesday where the division approved its budget for the 2019-20 school year.

Trustees around the table unanimously voted for the school division's budget, which pegged expenses for the upcoming year at $271.6 million, an increase of roughly $3.97 million over last year.

While the budget was approved, many trustees around the table expressed disappointment with the situation the school division was in.

Saskatoon public going ahead with operational changes

In order to balance its budget, the division had to make numerous cuts, including the reduction of 18 full-time teacher librarian positions and 15 English as an additional language teachers.

The public school division will also be eliminating home economics and industrial arts for Grade 8 students, eliminating four full-time positions.

The division also cut 8.9 full-time secretary positions from elementary schools, reduced the central office budget by five positions and made a six per cent reduction in non-salary budgets across the division, including school budgets.

Many of those affected by the cuts will be reassigned, but that didn't make the decision any easier. Ward Nine trustee Charmaine Bellamy fought back tears as she made remarks about thebudget.

"I'm very disappointed as well," she said, echoing remarks by other trustees. "It's difficult to come to a budget when the students, and the staff,are impacted by every decision that we're making."

She said while the division worked to keep student-teacher ratios in the classroomthe same, students in the division will be affected by the losses, saying its staff that step up to the plate and do their best with the allocated budgets.

"I know our students will still receive a first-class education, but I also call on the government to consider properly funding education," she said.

'It'sskeletal'

Holly Kelleher, who represents Ward One, said it's been a difficult few years for Saskatchewan education, as the amount of funding is just not keeping pace with the level of growth and complexities in the student body.

"Four years ago, the budget got leaner.And then it got really skinny and now it's skeletal," she said. "It's not a budget that is able to properly support what it is that we're trying to do as a system."

She said there aren't many more places to cut from in order to find savings.

"It's all been done," she said. "There's really nowhere left to go without, I think,creating some serious damage to the way this system operates and the way we educate children."

Laraib Ahmed, a grade seven student atSylvia Fedoruk School, addressed trustees at the meeting. She feels education is the last sector the provincial government should be under-funding, saying more students should get involved.

"They should talk about it too, because I don't think it's right what's happening," she said. Adding: "Education is important."

Some staff added

In order to accommodate the growth of 448 students, the division is hiring a handfull of staff members, including 15 full-time teaching positions and 17.5 educational assistant positions at the division.

Also, 21.5 full-time educational assistants hired in January of 2019 will also be retained for the upcoming school year. The division will also hire for nine other positions, which includes four full-time resource room teachers and two full-time special education program teachers.

The division also had to pull $1.5 million from its operating reserves to cover the shortfall.

At budget time, Education Minister Gordon Wyant said the province's 27 school districts will receive $1.9 billion in school operating funding, an increase of $26.2 million over last year's $1.87 billion budget.

"We know the importance of education in our province and we have heard from people across Saskatchewan about what they need in their communities," Education Minister Gordon Wyant said. "As a result of those conversations, we will not only be maintaining operating funding, we are increasing it, outpacing enrolment growth."

Budget decisions some of the toughest

Saskatoon public's board chair Ray Morrison said while funding has increased, it hasn't kept pace. Enrolment jumped by 10 per cent over the last five years, while funding has only increased roughly 3.1 per cent.

For him, he said these decisions are some of the hardest to make.

"These are the things that keep me awake at night," he said.

"These decisions will have an impact on their careers and their lives and we don't take them lightly."

He said at the end of the day, trustees are elected to do the work of a trustee and that can involve making tough decisions, saying he the current government needs to make education "a priority."