By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
Despite a projected decrease in student enrolment and increasing operational costs, the Prairie Spirit School Division (PSSD) has managed to balance its books for the 2025-2026 school year by using some reserve funds set aside for specific projects and making some staff reductions.
The Prairie Spirit trustees passed the 2025-2026 operational budget at their June 16 board meeting. An infographic detailing highlights from the budget was later posted to the Prairie Spirit website, and the Clark’s Crossing Gazette later reached out to the division for further details.
As noted by PSSD Communication Manager Brenda Erickson, school divisions are required to develop and submit balanced budgets to the Ministry of Education.
For 2025-2026, Prairie Spirit anticipates total revenue and expenses of $145 million.
A total of $128 million of the division’s funding comes from the provincial government, which equates to 93% of their revenue. Erickson noted this includes a $1.1 million capital grant for the new South Corman Park School.
Compared to 2024-2025, provincial funding has increased by $10 million. Erickson said this increase recognizes the costs associated with the Provincial Collective Bargaining Agreement for teachers.
Nevertheless, Prairie Spirit is having to contend with a decline in overall student numbers for the second year in a row after many years of steady enrolment growth. This affects the amount of revenue in Prairie Spirit’s coffers, as provincial funding is tied to projected enrolment numbers.
Erickson said the division is projecting a total enrolment in 2025-2026 of just under 11,500 students, which is roughly 100 fewer than last year.
Noting that this student enrolment is closely tied to population trends in the communities the division serves, Erickson said that some schools will experience reductions in teaching staff while others may see increases due to rising enrolment.
However, the overall ratio of classroom teachers to students will remain unchanged in Prairie Spirit schools.
On the expenses side, instruction still accounts for 71.2% of all division expenses, with student transportation and division facilities coming in at 6.8% and 13.3% respectively.
The highlights infographic posted by Prairie Spirit indicates that budget reductions of $3 million were made across the division, with staff being reduced in the facilities and transportation departments as well as centralized supports.
The budget was also balanced through the use of designated reserve funds strategically set aside to fund the renovation of Practical and Applied Arts labs in schools and purchasing new school buses. Through these cuts, this is the first time in many years that the budget has been balanced without dipping into the division’s general savings.
Through a provision in the new provincial teacher agreement, Classroom Complexity teachers will be added to all schools with over 75 students.
“Classroom complexity is a term used to reflect the variety of factors in a classroom including, but not limited to, class size, student needs, student behaviours and learning styles,” Erickson said.
In addition, Prairie Spirit has been funded for the addition of a Specialized Support Classroom. This is part of a broader initiative to introduce 50 of these classrooms to school divisions around Saskatchewan, though the Ministry of Education aims to have 200 of these classrooms in place within four years.
As noted in a provincial release announcing the original pilot program in January 2024, the classroom is meant to help students practice self-regulation skills while also addressing the impacts of disruptions.
Erickson said Prairie Spirit’s Specialized Support Classroom will use an itinerant/mobile model to provide support to a variety of schools, though with a focus on Kindergarten and Grade 1. This work will be led by a team consisting of a specialized teacher, a counsellor and a half-time occupational therapist, all working alongside staff, students and families/caregivers.
“This is Prairie Spirit’s first Specialized Support Classroom, and we are looking forward to providing additional targeted supports for students,” Erickson said.