Anxious Saskatchewan school divisions now know how much money they will get this year under a new funding formula announced in the March 21 provincial budget.
All will see increases from $10 million in transition funding to help mitigate the impacts of the new distribution model.
If the model had been introduced without mitigation, eight of the 28 divisions would have seen their funding drop, including Creighton, Living Sky, Lloydminster, North East, North West, Prairie South, Prairie Spirit and Prairie Valley.
Saskatchewan School Boards Association president Sandi Urban-Hall said boards are willing to give the new model a chance.
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“The foreshadowing that the school divisions saw a month, six weeks ago, definitely did create anxiety and fear but in that time, there have been numerous discussions between boards, ministry officials and the minister herself,” she said after the budget was announced.
“We were looking today for mitigation and a way to help school divisions move forward. We see that.”
The distribution formula replaces the former foundation operating grant developed decades ago and frozen for the last three years after the government moved to a provincewide mill rate.
Previously, boards received operating money on a per student basis and were able to raise the remainder of what they needed from the property tax base.
When the government moved to cut the education tax on property, it implemented a provincewide mill rate and took away the boards’ taxing authority.
It then had to come up with a new way to meet divisions’ needs.
Officials said the new model is more equitable, examining factors such as the number of schools in a division, geography and historical costs.
School divisions with richer tax bases won’t benefit more than less wealthy divisions.
“Those school divisions that had access to rich tax wealth will have tight budgets this year, next year and possibly a third year,” said education minister Donna Harpauer.
She said some school divisions have expressed interest in adopting the lean processing model that the health ministry and others are using to identify how to do things more efficiently to reduce costs.
She also said that school divisions may want to work together. Two divisions perhaps can get a better deal if they bought 10 buses together.
Urban-Hall said when divisions start building their budgets for next year in September, they will get a better idea of how the new model is working and what changes might need to be made.
“The fundamental piece is that there’s communication between the school division and the ministry (and) that the goal is and will remain equitable opportunities for students,” she said.
Overall, education funding went up this year to $1.74 billion, including an $88.7 million increase in capital spending.
The province is also moving toward a new shared ownership model for selected large capital projects such as schools, hospitals and long-term care facilities.
The costs will be amortized over the expected life of the facility, similar to highways, rather than expensed all in the first year. The province would own 65 percent of the project. Previously, a school division would completely own a school.
Six of 21 school capital projects in Swift Current, Regina, Saskatoon, Warman and Lloydminster will be funded through the new model, as will the new Moose Jaw Union Hospital and seven of the 13 long-term care projects underway or recently completed.
The provincial health budget is set at $4.7 billion and remains the province’s largest expense at nearly 42 percent of the total budget.
