Sask. Teachers’ Federation warns of cuts

STF cites memo to school district, minister denies more cutbacks

The organization representing Saskatchewan teachers is warning that the province’s education sector will likely be facing another tough budget in 2018-19.

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) indicated Tuesday it has learned school divisions “are being called on by the government to prepare for another round of cuts in the upcoming provincial budget.” This comes after provincial funding was reduced by 6.7 per cent for the current year.

The release claims some divisions are already in the process of looking for cost reductions, as the STF received a memo sent to staff at Chinook School Division asking teachers, administrators and others to participate in meetings to “look at programming differently with fewer available resources.”

The STF is calling on parents to “demand accountability” from the government and school boards, said its president Patrick Maze. He said more cuts will hurt classrooms further, potentially resulting in larger class sizes and fewer student supports. “We look at education as an investment into our future and government seems to be look at it as an expense line in their budget,” Maze said Tuesday.

The Chinook memo also indicates the division is employing roughly 55 teachers more than it’s funded for. While Supports for Learning funding offsets the gap by roughly 15 full-time employees, more than 40 full-time teachers are still “deployed beyond” the division’s funding recognition.

In a statement to The Star-Phoenix, Education Minister Bronwyn Eyre said: “First of all, the government has not directed school divisions to prepare for another round of cuts. In fact, the Premier, myself and Cabinet are very aware of the significant pressures facing classrooms and have been actively considering options for addressing this, not only in next year’s budget.”

Eyre said no decisions have been made and Saskatchewan Party leadership candidates have “addressed education funding as a concern and a priority in next year’s budget.”

Kyle McIntyre, Chinook’s acting director of education, said the division’s provincial funding was cut roughly $9.9 million during the 2017-18 budget.

He said while the division reduced the deficit by $6.5 million last year, keeping cuts out of the classroom, it’s now consulting with front line staff on how to address the remaining $3.5-million shortfall over two years.

He said the division has “no other choice but to look at teacher-staffing levels,” to address the shortage this year.

“The process which we have chosen to use is we want to engage our staff on a program and personnel review,” he said. “We’ve decided to be inclusive with our staff to identify what are the programs and supports we absolutely need to continue to support learners in our division.”