Boards unsure how COVID will hit budgets

Regina’s school divisions are sending their 2020-21 budgets off for the provincial government’s approval while largely flying blind on what students resuming in-person classes this fall could cost them amid ongoing COVID -19 concerns.

The provincial government announced on June 9 it is aiming for students to be back to in-person classes this fall, although it has yet to release any guidelines for schools on what that might look like. Without those guidelines, it is difficult for divisions to know how much funding — if any — needs to be allocated to making changes to normal school operations.

“We have planned some contingencies for that, in case we need to respond to whatever the circumstances are in the fall when students return,” said Naomi Mellor, deputy director of division services and CFO for Regina Public Schools.

Bob Kowalchuk, board chair of the Regina Catholic School Division (RCSD), said there is no flexibility in its 2020-21 budget for extra COVID -19 costs.

“There has been no funding put in there for COVID, so if there has to be any changes down the road, that is going to have to be another discussion with the government on how do we do it,” he said.

Kowalchuk did acknowledge that extra costs are expected for things like masks, plastic sneeze guards and hand sanitizer, even though there is no money for them in the budget.

RCSD is submitting a balanced budget of $122.6 million to the Ministry of Education. The division kept up its funding levels for all staff and programs, but Kowalchuk said funding for purchases and supplies has been cut to ensure that was the case. The division is projecting an increase of 56 students for a total of 11,999, and is adding one full-time teacher and three education support professionals to accommodate the growth.

The budget also provides funding for a new Elementary Functionally Academic Program classroom, which is a learning environment designed for elementary students with a moderate level of intellectual disability.

“While we’re glad that we’re able to come in with a balanced budget, it doesn’t come in without recognizing that we’ve had to make some significant changes to be able to do that,” said Kowalchuk.

“It is the best we’re going to get in the circumstances we’re in.”

Regina Public Schools is planning for a $5.8-million deficit, the fourth year in a row its budget has seen a multimillion dollar deficit.

2019-2020 is a completely unprecedented time for education, and we assumed that it would create some additional or unexpected costs.

Mellor said she is still confident the division is “on a sustainable financial footing ” and that the division has the cash reserves it needs to cover its expenses. “When you look at the overall deficit in the context of the financial position of the school division, we believe that it is sustainable,” she said.

Terry Lazarou, spokesperson for Regina Public Schools, attributed the division’s strong cash reserves to years of fiscal responsibility. He said the division would obviously prefer if it didn’t need to dip into reserves, but with the pandemic, “that time isn’t now.”

“This 2019-2020 is a completely unprecedented time for education, and we assumed that it would create some additional or unexpected costs.

“The reserves help get us through that,” he said.

Regina Public is expecting to see an increase of more than 600 students from the year before, from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12, for a total of 25,239 students. To maintain student-teacher ratios, the division is adding 21 full-time classroom teachers and 20 educational assistants in its 2020-21 budget.

The nearly $256-million 202021 budget includes an additional $6.9 million from the provincial government to cover continued enrolment growth ($4.7 million) and the new collective agreement reached with teachers ($2.2 million).

The budget also allocates $2.3 million to finish the design and begin construction on the new jointuse Argyle and St. Pius X school, along with $1.3 million to get started on the new joint-use school in Harbour Landing approved by the province in this year’s budget.