Two school divisions plan to increase lunchtime fees

Regina Public, Saskatoon Catholic say budget shortfalls force measures

Two Saskatchewan school divisions say they are increasing and expanding lunch supervision fees in the coming school year, all in a bid to cover costs left underfunded budgets.

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools and Regina Public Schools have each advised parents that lunch fees for elementary students will be going up and high school students will now have a fee to remain at school over the lunch hour in the 2023-24 school year.

At Regina Public, lunch fees will be increasing 10 per cent beginning in September. Fees for kindergarten students will rise to $55 per student from $50, and fees for elementary students from grades 1 through 8 will increase to $110 from $100. The new fee for high schools will be $55 per student. Fees will continue to be capped per family, although that will increase to $220 from the previous $200.

Saskatoon Catholic is upping lunch fees to $100 per elementary student from $70, and adding a $25 fee for high school students. Family fees caps will also increase, to $200 from $140 per year.

The division first brought in these fees in January, a result of last year's budget balancing.

All four of Saskatchewan's largest school divisions have now turned to lunch fees for cost-recovery aid. Regina Catholic and Saskatoon Public Schools also introduced fees in 2022, as a result of budget deliberations.

Saskatoon Catholic, in its online communication, said it is considering cuts to teacher librarian positions and bus routes, and reducing full-time kindergarten programs from 10 to two.

“Instead of having discussions on how we can better serve students, we're once again talking about what students and families will have to live without,” the division wrote.

Regina Public director of education Darren Boldt confirmed the division's change on Thursday, citing pressures in ongoing budget planning for 2023-24 as the driving force.

“We're dealing with a budget that is less than adequate for what we need,” he said.

Regina Public needed at least a three per cent, or $7.5 million, increase in operational funding from the Ministry of Education to maintain status-quo spending. Boldt said the division received just one per cent, or $2.5 million.

“That left us looking for ways to either reduce spending or increase revenues,” he said. “This is one avenue to try and help with that budget.”

Boldt said the increases equate to elementary students paying around 58 cents a day and kindergarten and high-school students 27 cents a day, to be at school for lunch.

Generated revenue from lunch fees covers about 20 per cent of supervision costs, but those costs will be increasing, said Boldt, as more students fill schools and the division tries to keep up with staff wages.

Raising fees is a cost-recovery tactic, however minimal, he said.

He added this is the first time Regina Public has raised lunch fees since they were first introduced in 2016.

“We're trying to look for ways to have the least amount of impact on families,” Boldt said. “And we do make accommodations for families who can't afford the fees.”

Boldt said the focus remains on minimizing impacts inside the classroom, which is leading to “hard decisions” in other areas. He said administration and board trustees are “disappointed and frustrated” to be placed in that position.

“We can't put the resources into schools that we know we need to,” he said. “And when we see impacts, even if they're perceived as small, it disappoints us.”

While Boldt declined to offer further specifics on what other cuts may be on the table, as the budget is still in discussion, he echoed a warning from earlier this month. He said board trustees are reviewing transportation routes, staffing levels and looking at “reducing other lesser priority spending” to cover gaps.

“I can tell you there will be more students in front of teachers next year than this year,” he said. “Pupil-to-teacher ratios will increase.”

Saskatchewan's school divisions are to provide proposed budgets to the ministry by June 30.