SASKATOON — Saskatoon Public Schools have assured that their 2025-26 budget covers the needs of the division as they prepare for the opening of classes on Sept. 2.
The provincial Ministry of Education has allocated $2.4 billion in operating funds for this school year, which will be divided among the 27 school divisions, with $130 million set aside for the new teacher collective agreement that addresses the growing number of students.
SPS communications and marketing manager Colleen Cameron told SaskToday they are optimistic about having hired an adequate number of staff for this school year.
“Our 2025-26 budget will include more teachers, EAs, resources to address student needs, and specialized classrooms. This budget won’t allow us to decrease class size, but addressing class complexity will mean every student gets more attention,” Cameron said.
She added that despite the federal government ending funding for Jordan’s Principle, which forced SPS to terminate about 80 temporary EAs in February, they would continue to support the program aimed at assisting Indigenous students.
Jordan’s Principle, named after Jordan River Anderson from Norway House Cree Nation, is a program that ensures First Nations children receive the government services they need without bureaucratic delays, regardless of jurisdictional disputes.
The federal government will continue to fund the program for the 2025-26 fiscal year, with Indigenous Services Canada implementing changes in eligibility, especially in requests made for students in provincial school divisions.
“In previous years, the division received federal government grants for Jordan’s Principle, which funded educational assistants for First Nations students. Provincial school divisions are no longer eligible to receive these grants,” said Cameron.
From 2019 to 2024, SPS received millions of dollars through Jordan’s Principle, using the funds to assist in tutoring and hiring qualified EAs to support the needs of First Nations students.
The funds also provided psycho-educational assessments, such as comprehensive evaluations of the mental processes that govern the academic, social and personal achievements of First Nations children and students already attending schools.
“There is insufficient funding to adequately address the significant learning disparity for First Nation, Métis and Inuit students; our school board will continue to advocate for this funding,” Cameron said.
The SPS budget for the school year was not publicly available at the time of posting.
