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The Saskatchewan NDP and teachers are sounding the alarms as Saskatoon Public Schools gets set to make big budget cuts to deal with a $5 million shortfall this year.
Teachers and other school staff were informed of the planned changes on Friday, as the school board tried to give maximum notice ahead of their budget approval process in June.
The cuts include:
- Eliminating Grade 8 home economics and industrial arts programs, impacting six teachers
- Eliminating 15 English as additional language (EAL) teachers (five from high schools, 10 from elementary)
- Cutting 18.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions for teacher-librarians
- Cutting secretaries at 18 schools, equal to 8.9 FTEs
- Not filling two consultant and one administrative positions at the board’s central office
- Reducing the total of all school budgets by six per cent
- Reducing superintendent budgets by a total of $320,000
The school board emphasized the impacted staff members will be moved to other teaching positions, with no actual layoffs expected.
Board chair Ray Morrison told 650 CKOM in an interview there were difficult decisions to make after the provincial budget, which only raised their operating grant by 1.5 per cent.
“None of this has been work we really like to undertake,” he said. “But we didn’t have much choice.”
He noted after consulting with parents and staff since the release of the provincial budget, it was clear there was a push to not increase class sizes in favour of maintaining specialty programs, like EAL.
“The priority … was to maintain class size where it was,” he said.
In addition to the cuts in positions and school budgets, Saskatoon Public Schools is also set to draw $1.5 million from their reserves to fill in the operating budget gap.
The reserves are typically held to help deal with unexpected costs, including emergency capital repairs to schools. Morrison said the reserve account typically holds between $8 million and $12 million on any given year.
While many positions are being proposed for cuts, the school board also listed staffing additions planned for the 2019-2020 school year:
- Four high school teachers
- 11 elementary school teachers
- 17.5 new educational assistants
- Four resource teachers
- Two special education teachers
- One staff nurse for John Dolan School
- One rotational library technician
Teachers, NDP concerned about the cuts
News of the proposed cuts came as the Saskatchewan NDP were already raising concerns about education funding and services at the legislature on Monday.
NDP Education Critic Carla Beck told reporters teachers are increasingly feeling they aren’t equipped with the tools to provide proper education for students.
“What they’re seeing in the classroom certainly isn’t matching what the minister (of education) continually talks about with average class sizes of 19 and more the budget pace,” Beck said.
Saskatoon-based educational assistant Desiree Hamilton was at the legislature with Beck and reacted to the proposed cuts at the school board.
“We’re letting down some of our most vulnerable students,” she said. “Without those programs, we’re going to lose a lot more kids. There’s going to be more dropouts, we’re going to have more behaviours — there’s going to be increasing issues in the classrooms.”
Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation (STF) president Patrick Maze also questioned the cuts.
He said it didn’t make sense to remove 15 positions for EAL teachers, when more new students are coming to school who need help with their English language skills.
“To cut EAL supports seems a little strange,” he said.
However, Maze noted the cuts made by the school board would have been tough no matter where they were made.
“They’re left with difficult decisions to make,” he said. “No matter what they’re going to do, they’re going to be wrong.”
The STF president pointed to the provincial government for putting Saskatoon Public Schools in a bind, saying more funding was needed from the province as student enrolment grows, creating pressures on school staff.
“Government seems to be balancing the books on the back of the education system,” Maze said.
While Education Minister Gord Wyant was unavailable for comment Monday, Justice Minister Don Morgan told reporters the province would work with the school board and stressed the budget wasn’t finalized.
“Hopefully it works out well,” he said.
— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick.