Catholic schools to boost staffing with extra funding

Regina Catholic School Division is in the midst of hiring 16 fulltime-equivalent positions with an additional $451,700 from the provincial government.

Division administration met this week to decide where to allocate the money, allotted Feb. 6 in the provincial mid-year funding adjustment.

In many cases, it breaks down to adding hours to existing part-time positions, Regina Catholic spokeswoman Twylla West said.

These include educational psychologists, learning resource teachers, social workers, instructional assistants, speech and language pathologists, and English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers. The positions will run until the end of June and the 201718 school year.

Some of the funding will support mental health first-aid training for school-based administrators, and developing online courses to support students in the transition from elementary to high school.

“We used a two-step process to look at areas of needs,” West said.

“Central office staff looked at division-wide challenges and assigned additional staff accordingly. School-based administrators were asked to complete applications for additional staff based upon a demonstration of need.”

The areas of need included EAL; interventions in English language arts, French language arts, and math; student mental health; student transitions; First Nations, Metis and Inuit students’ achievement; kindergarten support; and extra help for students with cognitive and/or physical needs.

Earlier this month, the Regina Public School Division announced it would fill 32.5 full-time-equivalent positions with the $868,072 it received.

Saskatchewan’s 28 school divisions were given $7.5 million in additional government grants on Feb. 6, as new Premier Scott Moe announced the mid-year funding adjustment.