Lack of funding to delay maintenance at schools

Cuts of $50M force public board to shuffle some preventive work

Several maintenance projects at Regina Public Schools will be delayed over the next four years, a division superintendent says, all a result of a provincial funding shortage.

Superintendent of facilities Jared Kleisinger says a reduction in available dollars means several maintenance projects had to be shuffled in the division's fouryear plan to balance the spending budget.

“We had to relocate some projects that were planned and juggle things around to put them where they're needed over the next four years,” he said at Tuesday night's board meeting.

A $50-million reduction to preventive maintenance funding by the Ministry of Education means divisions provincewide are working with less for 2023-24, said Regina Public Schools.

Regina Public received a cut of 8.7 per cent, or approximately $500,000, for 2023-24, bringing funding down from an anticipated $6 million to $5.5 million.

According to the amended Preventative Maintenance Renewal Plan for 2023-27 that was approved on Tuesday, the division has expected to spend $6.9 million on preventive maintenance in 2023-24. Approximately $900,000 in maintenance reserve funds will be used to cover the deficit.

Preventive maintenance projects are smaller than capital projects but are integral to keeping schools functional. Priority work planned for the next three years will focus on electrical upgrades, asbestos and mould removal, and structural repairs to roofs and foundations to maintain integrity.

Deferrals of maintenance projects aren't uncommon, Kleisinger said, as divisions regularly evaluate costs and prioritize needs. He said the division is working on 202324 budgets with less funding than anticipated, while still aiming to maintain safety for students.

Kleisinger said Regina Public has reallocated around $2 million in these types of projects over the next four years, to adjust to the funding change.

“It's very important to preserve our major building systems,” Kleisinger said. “We renew these base building items to, really, sustain the life of the asset.”

Installation of protective, ground-cover radon barriers at Albert School and Henry Braun School have been deferred until next year. Boiler plant renewals at Thom Collegiate and Campbell Collegiate were pushed to 2024, as was revitalization of portable classrooms at Ethel Miliken School.

In asking whether an ongoing radon gas survey will be delayed due to the tighter budget, trustee Adam Hicks noted that “it is a significant amount of money we're not funded.”

Radon testing will proceed, administration said, but further remediation steps will likely be re-evaluated based on priority.

Regina Public is not alone in juggling a drop in such budgets, as other school divisions have noted cuts to preventive maintenance funding are likely to cause disruption to facility work.

Prairie Valley School Division received 10 per cent less for preventive maintenance, but said that inflation has increased project costs by 30 per cent.

“This will significantly impact the division's ability to ensure buildings remain in basic operating condition,” the division wrote in an April board report.

Funding is also decreasing for Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, with a cut of nine per cent, or $379,000, compared with last year's preventive maintenance allocation.

School boards are bound to deliver budgets to the Ministry of Education that match funding, including preventive maintenance spending.

Saskatoon Catholic, in board documents from May, said the coming year represents an example of lean spending on such work.

The school board has allotted $3.8 million for maintenance projects in 2023-24. In comparison, project costs estimated for the following three years are $18.3 million, $21.3 million and $19 million through to 2027.

“This does not reflect all ongoing or deferred PMR costs,” the report says. “The estimated annual costs of 2024-2025 and beyond is more reflective of what PMR funding should be.”

Saskatoon Catholic and Regina Public have already warned that funding shortfalls may affect classrooms, with staffing reductions on the table to balance numbers.

“We are managing within a particularly difficult and disappointing provincial budget,” Regina Public director of education Darren Boldt said Tuesday.

During conversations following the submission of trustee reports, Hicks commented that Regina Public appeared to need an operational funding increase of three per cent to maintain status quo, but received just one per cent from the ministry.

“When we're talking about a $260-million budget or so, two per cent is a pretty significant number,” Hicks said.