Yorkton's school divisions will not be getting any of the $6.6 million in mid-year funding announced by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education on Monday.
Angela Chobanik, a senior policy advisor, explained the eligibility process was a two-filter approach. First, school divisions needed to show a minimum growth of 40 students and at least 1 per cent total growth.
"Good Spirit didn't meet the first criteria so we didn't even look at them for the second," Chobanik said.
Good Spirit's enrolment was up by 44 students, but that constituted less than one per cent growth. Christ the Teacher had a greater than one per cent growth, but only 21 new students.
Eight school divisions qualified for the mid-year infusion of cash, which the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) has been pushing for over the last two years as the province's population has exploded. All school divisions supported a resolution at the SSBA's annual meeting November 13-15 that would see the education ministry adjust its funding formula.
"We are pleased that the government is listening to the voice of locally-elected school boards across Saskatchewan," said Janet Foord, SSBA president. "In terms of providing operating funding to ensure the growing number of students receive the best educational opportunities, and, allocating capital dollars to provide safe and healthy learning environments for children and youth, we believe this is a step in the right direction."
Another step in the right direction, she said, was an announcement that the Province will begin to base funding on the current year enrolment rather than the previous year.
Education Minister Russ Marchuk said the old practice worked well for the old Saskatchewan.
"However today we have a new reality where some school divisions are seeing large enrolment increases from one year to the next," Marchuk said. "Today's announcement addresses this new reality in a growing Saskatchewan."
Nearly half the growth in student enrolment has been in the Saskatoon and Warman areas resulting in four school divisions in that region garnering extra budget: Saskatoon School Division, St. Paul's Roman Catholic Separate School Division (Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools), Prairie Spirit School Division (Warman) and Sun West School Division (Rosetown).
The other four are Lloydminster RCSSD, Prairie Valley SD (Fort Qu'Appelle), Regina RCSSD and Southeast Cornerstone SD (Weyburn/Estevan).
The ministry also announced an additional $800,000 to build 40 to 50 new portable classrooms for the 2013-2014 school year.
