By Jeff Labine

Public school division struggles to find savings

Mar 31, 2017 | 2:00 PM

Sask. Rivers School Division is looking to find $3.8 million in order to balance its budget, which could mean job cuts are coming down the road.

Robert Bratvold, the school division’s director of education, said he knew the provincial budget was going to be challenging, but he never anticipated the cuts to be this deep. The reduction in provincial funding was announced at 1.2 per cent, but because of their funding model that number is closer to 3.5 per cent for Prince Albert’s public school division.

“We have to look at every piece, and every piece is hard to find a way to make budget balance, which we are required by legislation,” he said. “I think it would be unrealistic for people to expect that a reduction of this magnitude, that there won’t be impacts on some positions. We won’t know the final numbers until the board actually approves the budget.”

Bratvold said it can be challenging to find savings that don’t impact students. He explained the division could cut central office personnel, but whatever or whomever was cut might ultimately trickle down to students.

Another way the school division can find savings is through changing bus routes but that too could impact students. School closures aren’t on the table as legislation dictates schools can only close based on enrollment.

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Before and after school programs could also be impacted because of the funding cuts, but Bratvold said these programs aren’t considered a huge. Fortunately, they’re subsidized through contributions by parents, but Bratvold pointed out just because there’s money doesn’t mean they couldn’t be eliminated. He said it could become increasingly challenging to find staff to run the programs.

The division doesn’t have to go back to the drawing board as staff were able to balance next school year’s budget. The division then found find 2.5 per cent in savings, meaning they’ll need to find another one per cent or roughly million dollars.

The school division’s total budget is roughly $104 million.

There was some positives that came out of the budget, including keeping elected school boards and not amalgamating school divisions. Bratvold called it a relief that no changes were coming in that respect.

“The locally elected trustee provides an important function, I believe, a democratic function but also that voice of local people in terms of the issues and concerns they have,” he said. “The other piece was the potential anxiety and …disruption that would ensue should large amalgamation take place.”

Bratvold also praised the work of everyone at the division especially during these challenging times.

Jeff.labine@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @labinereporter