Regina Public School Board Budget Priorities
To get a grasp on what truly matters to an organization, it's essential to take a look at how they allocate their finances. There's a well-known saying in journalism: “follow the money.” This phrase highlights the idea that an organization's priorities often reveal themselves through its financial decisions, as well as where it invests its time, energy, and resources.
What does it mean?
Looking at the Regina Public School Board Budget for 2023-2024 gives us valuable insight into where the school board is directing its resources and what its priorities are.
The 2023-2024 Regina Public School Board Budget states: “based on the operating funding announced in the March Provincial budget, Regina Public Schools was faced with difficult budget decisions. A 1% increase fell far short of covering enrolment increases, collective agreements with support staff, higher employee benefits, utility rates, transportation costs, and other inflationary increases.”
This indicates that the School Board encountered some challenges with its operations budget for the 2023-2024 school year, leading to the need for tough decisions on resource allocation. Accordingly, the way the school board prioritized the additional funding made available by the province is quite revealing.
“In allocating the additional funds, the Division prioritized: 1. Achieving a sustainable base budget that provides stable and predictable programs and services for students, families, and staff. 2. Addressing enrolment increases and creating a school-based staffing contingency for the Fall. 3. Investing in the Division’s strategic budget priorities, particularly: student success through innovative programming, early years growth and development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. The result was to mitigate the most significant planned reductions, particularly to school-based teaching staff, and make limited, targeted investments in certain priorities.”2
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives mentioned above allocate over $210,000 for the salaries of two administrators dedicated solely to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout Regina Public Schools. According to RPS's own budget documentation, it seems they may be stretched thin when it comes to essential areas such as salary increases, staffing, utility rates, and employee benefits. Despite this, they are investing time, money, energy, and valuable resources into DEI programming that shows little to no evidence of its effectiveness.
This situation sheds light on the current priorities of RPS.
It's important for concerned citizens to reflect carefully on whether this allocation of resources aligns with the values and needs of teachers, parents and students.
Let your voice be heard.
Email Saskatchewan’s Minister of Education today.
Email your Regina Public School Board Trustee in your division today.