Chinook School Division talks about funding needs and advocacy at public meetings
The Chinook School Division is asking parents, families and community members to advocate for increased education funding for public school divisions.
This message of a need for public advocacy in support of school divisions is shared at several informational meetings about education funding.
The initial two meetings took place at Central School in Swift Current on Oct. 23 and at Maple Creek Composite School on Oct. 26. Another two meetings were scheduled to take place at Cabri School on Nov. 6 and Shaunavon Public School on Nov. 7.
Chinook Board Chair Kimberly Pridmore said during a media interview after the Oct. 23 meeting in Swift Current that the school division is trying something different with these meetings.
“We’re trying to be creative and try some new strategies to help people understand the situation better,” she mentioned. “We know that their voice is much stronger with government than the board’s or administration’s. So we’re trying to help people understand how important it is to give that message to government that education needs to be a priority.”
The Chinook Board of Education will talk about a need for more investment in education whenever it represents the school division, but it feels additional voices can make a difference.
“Families all experience it differently with their own kids and communities, and we just think the voice is stronger when it comes from every community across the province,” she said.
Information available at the Swift Current meeting included sample letters in support of education funding for public school divisions as well as the contact details of MLAs within the area covered by the school division and of the education minister and the Premier’s office.
“The goal tonight or at any of these meetings is to increase the level of understanding in our communities and our families,” Pridmore said. “But then we hope that they make the connection to how it affects them personally and that they understand how powerful their voice can be, and that they do go to their MLA or to the minister of education or to the Premier. Any elected official that can take that concern back to central government.”
Chinook Director of Education Mark Benesh made a detailed presentation during the meeting about educational funding and the financial situation of the Chinook School Division.
The school division made over $10 million of cuts in every area of its operation over the last eight years, including the areas of staffing, student services, curriculum and instruction, transportation, technology, maintenance and facilities, senior administration and board governance.
The overall provincial funding increased by 10 per cent from $1.88 billion in 2015 to $2.08 billion in 2023. However, the funding to the Chinook School Division decreased by four per cent from $83.7 million in 2015 to $80.4 million in 2023.
Transportation is a significant expense in this rural school division, which covers an area of 42,720 square kilometres. Chinook school buses travel a total distance of 24,294 kilometres every school day and 10 buses have to be replaced every year.
The transportation funding for the school division dropped from $9.47 million in 2015 to $8.77 million in 2023. Chinook is funded 80 cents for every dollar needed to provide transportation in 2023-24.
Inflationary pressures have an impact on school division operations, including transportation. The cost of a new bus increased by 25 per cent in one year and fuel costs increased significantly since 2021. Inflationary pressures resulted in an increase of 27 per cent in utility costs since 2020 and insurance costs increased 25 per cent in one year.
Chinook received $683 less per student in 2023-24 compared to 2015-16. The school division’s projected budget shortfall for 2023-24 is $3.2 million.
The school division has been using funding from its financial reserves to make up the shortfall in provincial funding. Chinook reserves are expected to be $9 million or less by the end of 2024. The school division estimates there will be no reserves left by the end of the 2025-26 school year if the current level of underfunding continues.
Benesh noted during his presentation that school divisions are not allowed to have a deficit budget if they do not have reserves, which means they must balance their budget through program and staff reductions.
Amanda Polsfut and James McLauchlan attended the informational meeting in Swift Current. They spoke afterwards to this newspaper about what they heard.
“It’s very disheartening to take this all in,” Polsfut said. “I know for my own family, my son couldn’t get some of the services that he needed through the school division and so I was forced to have to pay privately. It seems like it’s just getting worse and knowing that the reserves are almost at capacity, that we’re almost out, it’s a horrible situation.”
McLauchlan also felt it was discouraging to hear about the underfunding of the Chinook School Division.
“That is our future, if you want bright minds that are going to help get us through the challenges that we face in the next decades, for example just in terms of things like climate change and agriculture,” he said.
He felt it is unfortunate that parents will have to think about the lack of funding for the school division.
“I think that at this time, parents have enough on their plate,” he said. “They shouldn’t have to worry about the quality of the education system. … This is one of those things that will come back to bite us in the long term if we don’t address these needs now.”
Benesh said after the information meeting during a media interview that the strains and difficulties due to underfunding might not always be so evident to parents in schools.
“We have an outstanding group of staff in schools that work tremendously hard to support kids,” he noted. “But at some point, the dyke’s going to break and you just can’t meet all those needs in the manner or the staff can’t do all that they’re doing for that extended period of time. There’s a shelf life to that.”
The purpose of his presentation at these meetings is therefore to assist people to gain a better understanding of the school division’s financial situation.
“We’re trying to connect a lot of things,” he said. “Inflation, lack of funding, all the pieces that each thing is a barrier for us to be successful. And it’d be nice if the province and the government remove some of those barriers that make it easier for schools across the province to meet the needs of kids.”
His presentation included a list of program and staff reductions that will have to happen if the school division is out of reserves. He noted during the interview that most of the reductions on that list have already occurred in recent years due to underfunding.
“Extra curricular money got dwindled, we had more multi-graded circumstance, we have bigger classrooms, we have less supports,” he said. “All that’s already happened. Now we’re a much more skeleton organization, but then what happens if we’ve got to do it again? We just can’t sustain it in the same manner and support kids in the manner that they deserve.”
Pridmore said the Chinook Board of Education will continue to look for ways to advocate for the school division after these informational meetings.
“We’re always looking for more opportunity to meet with our minister and our MLAs, the southwest municipal group, our municipalities in general,” she said. “We work really hard with the other divisions in the province to try and find a common message to send to the government. And that is just generally sustainable, adequate funding. That’s really all we ask for.”