More students, inflation putting pressure on Saskatoon schools

Saskatoon's public and Catholic school boards meet this week to decide what to keep and what to trim from next fall's budget. 

"The devil is in the details," said Ray Morrison, chairman of the board at the Saskatoon Public School Division. "It's better than last year, but we still have some corners where we'll have to look to see where we'll balance this budget."

The province has restored just over half of the money officials cut from the K-12 education budget last year.

"We've got about a thousand more students than we had two years ago, and we're forecasting about another four hundred students this fall," said Morrison. "The growth does continue to put pressures on us."

Continued growth and inflation means funding levels remain concerning, according to the Saskatchewan School Boards Association.

Last year in Saskatoon, four new Catholic and four new public schools opened in shared buildings.

Busing costs have dropped, after divisions told students living closer than 1.2 kilometres they would have to walk to school. Public and Catholic schools also agreed to share some routes to cut costs.

This year's budget contained no money for major renovations or for new schools, which concerned Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools.

Its top priority for capital spending is St. Frances School, which now offers Cree bilingual classes to nearly 600 students. Classrooms are cramped, the gym is the smallest in the division, and the playground is crowded during every recess.

"Having no new capital projects ​announced is very disappointing to our school division and especially to our St. Frances school community," said GSCS director Greg Chatlain and superintendent Joel Lloyd in a budget update.

"The project appears to be a high priority for the government and we expect approval once funds become available for new capital projects."

Saskatoon Public Schools first asked the province for money to renovate Pleasant Hill School in 1996. Along with a revamp for Caswell School, it's among the Saskatoon board's top three priority requests.

"A wise investment in that building as it nears its 100th birthday, it's the right thing to do," said Morrison. "The building has good bones and if we look after it, it'll last another 100 years."

Both Saskatoon's public and Catholic boards have spent almost all their preventative maintenance and repair money over the past few years fixing roofs and replacing heating and ventilation units. 

Morrison said with continued population growth in Saskatoon, his board needs to plan to build new schools.

"We know we're going to need another high school on the east side of Saskatoon within five to ten years," said Morrison. "We'll look at neighbourhood growth and where the forecasted projections are." 

We may be better off tackling one neighbourhood at a time than having to invest all those capital dollars at once.- Ray Morrison, board chair, Saskatoon Public Schools

He said the P3 model for opening new schools "got us caught up" but was a major expense.

"If the resources are available as we move forward, we may be better off tackling one neighbourhood at a time than having to invest all those capital dollars at once," Morrison said.

"We've learned a lot in previous years with difficult budgets," said Morrison. "It's choosing priorities and investing what you can where you can to arrive at the best conclusions."