By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
For the second year in a row, the Prairie Spirit School Division (PSSD) has been able to balance its books for the upcoming school year without dipping into its “limited” savings, though some reserve funds set aside for renovations will be utilized and some reductions in spending have been made.
Prairie Spirit trustees unanimously approved the 2026-2027 budget during their June 15 meeting, which also marked the final board meeting of the 2025-2026 s year.
In an e-mail, a PSSD spokesperson said the 2026-2027 budget was designed to invest in student and adult learning, adding that it “aligns with the board’s strategic plan and reflects the board’s commitment to achieving key priorities and outcomes.”
The 2026-2027 budget projects an estimated $147.7 million in revenue and $148.3 million in spending.
However, as noted earlier, the budget has been balanced thanks to the use of reserve funds that had been strategically set aside by the board to fund the renovation of Practical and Applied Arts labs in schools.
As well, the spokesperson noted that no new system fees have been introduced.
In terms of revenue, provincial funding accounts for more than 93% of the division’s funding.
This year, provincial funding for the division, which is based on projected enrolment, increased by 2.1% from the 2025-2026 school year. This is in spite of the fact Prairie Spirit is projecting a small decrease in enrolment of about 20 students.
Expenses have also increased by about 2.2% largely due to “inflationary pressures” and other increasing operating costs, the spokesperson noted.
“To balance the budget, reductions were made in some areas of instruction, facilities and technology to offset rising operational costs,” the spokesperson said.
Nevertheless, the division has maintained the current pupil-teacher ratio formula for classrooms in the school division, with some schools seeing teaching staff reductions due to declining enrolment and others gaining staff because of enrolment growth.
Overall, instruction accounts for 70.6% of all division expenses, while facilities take up 13.3% of costs and student transportation represents 7.1% of expenses.
While some staff reductions are being made, a total of 10.4 FTE (full-time equivalent) educational associates are being added this fall to provide additional classroom supports.
A second Strategic Facilitator for Numeracy is also being added to provide additional support for math instruction in PSSD classrooms.
Finally, the Ministry of Education has provided designated funding for three more Specialized Support Classrooms within the division for a total of four.
The Saskatchewan government originally began piloting Specialized Support Classrooms in the 2024-2025 school year, establishing them in eight school divisions (not including PSSD). As explained in a provincial news release from January 2024, the purpose of these classrooms was to help staff manage and de-escalate behavioural incidents, with each classroom being equipped with specialized supports to help students practice self-regulation skills.
Following that pilot, the Saskatchewan government announced the program would expand to 200 classrooms across the province over the next four years.
Prairie Spirit’s four Specialized Support Classrooms will utilize an itinerant model of support targeted to meet the complexities of each school community, the spokesperson noted.