The Saskatchewan Finance Minister Donna Harpauer tabled the budget for education on Tuesday. It seems that this year’s budget includes $3.75 billion for education. The bill will be partially financed through tax increases on residents, businesses and resources.
The main goal of this budget is to keep the schools open as Saskatchewan continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s funding includes $100.9 million to build 16 schools and renovate five existing schools across Saskatchewan. Another $10 million will be reserved for relocatable classrooms.
27 school divisions in the province will see a $19.2 million increase in operating funding.
Saskatchewan Teachers’ Association Patrick Maze president, stated:
“It’s a good news budget for education. It helps with inflation and helps with enrolment increases. We’re looking at it as a positive.”
The provincial government has reserved over $20 million for this school year so divisions can hire more staff, IT equipment, PPE, and cleaning supplies.
Minister of Education Dustin Duncan said that some of the money will be used for school divisions to provide for the students returning in the fall.
Shawn Davidson, president of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, said that the budget is reasonable.
He added:
“I don’t want to create a false expectation that this is a great investment that’s going to allow for a lot of expanding programming in school divisions because that’s simply not the case. But it is in line with what we anticipated with what would be coming.”
