WEYBURN – The board and administration of the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division are “cautiously optimistic” the end news will be good for them from the provincial budget, but they are still working through the fine details and numbers.
The school division has seen a growth of some 5.5 per cent in enrolment, and will receive about $700,000 more in funds, but there are questions around the increase.
“How much of that is restricted?” asked Gwen Keith, education director, noting if some funds are restricted, they can only be used for what they’re designated for.
The funds for preventive maintenance or PMR is status quo, at $253,000, and targeted classroom education will see about $59,000 more.
“A very quick analysis I did on classroom costs is they’ll g up 2.4 per cent over last year,” said Georgia Hanwell, chief financial officer for Holy Family.
“It’s a lot better than last year when we had that deficit, and that’s good news as we move forward,” said Keith.
Asked if the school division will have a balanced budget as a result of this funding, Keith said as some of the funds will be restricted, it’s likely they will still have to use some reserves, “but not to the level of last year.”
She noted also that there wasn’t a lot more information than when Premier Scott Moe revealed the education budget two weeks before the main provincial budget was brought down on March 20.
Part of the funds announced included an amount for the teachers contract, which still has not been settled. Keith said they were told in a briefing on Wednesday that if the final amount is higher than what’s in the budget, the province will cover it.
Keith said the administration will be able to give a much clearer picture of what was in the budget for them at the April board meeting, as the finance officials will have to sift through all of the dollar amounts, including what is or isn’t restricted funding.
• In other board business, the school division’s Grade 4 students will be doing the “Our School” survey, as the education ministry was able to secure it for all school boards this year, said Terry Jordens.
The survey will go out in May, with a view to helping school boards plan for what needs should addressed in the next school year.
One of the changes, noted Jordens, some of the questions on gender identity that were in the survey are not available any more.
“We have to determine if schools can add their own questions,” she added.
Keith also noted they asked if the survey results will be used in the school division’s annual report, and they have not had an answer to that yet.
• The trustees were informed that Abby Johnson is a new school counsellor for St. Michael School, as former counsellor Becky Tuchscherer has moved on to new responsibilities. She will serve in that capacity until the end of the school year in June.
