Regina schools support hundreds of ‘unfunded’ students

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Regina’s two school divisions say they are supporting an unprecedented amount of extra students this year, as a result of the boom in immigration the province has experienced since this fall.

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Regina Catholic School Division (RCSD) has seen 415 additional students enrolled since the end of September, which is the cutoff for enrollment projections to receive funding adjustments from the Ministry of Education.

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As that was the last time divisions received a funding boost from the province, RCSD chief financial officer Josh Kramer said it means these students are essentially “unfunded” within the system, but are still using resources in and out of classrooms.

It’s created big pressures on the division, he said Wednesday.

“We don’t have additional funding for these students,” said Kramer. “So, we have had to try to find any additional dollars within the division to put towards the classroom, and we already have a tight budget in the first place.”

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Director of education Sean Chase, in the division’s monthly board meeting on Monday, said it’s the equivalent of running an extra elementary school, outside the budget.

“This puts a pressure on schools and on teachers,” said Kramer.

For context, Kramer said the cost of education for 400 students, for an entire school year, is approximately $2 million. For these students, coming in partway through the year, it’s added at least $500,000 for the division.

The influx means administration has had to seek for extra dollars, through outside grants and by reallocating funds from outside-the-classroom programs to instead support the addition of more educational assistants (EAs).

There’s also a cost to the “practicalities in the classroom,” he said, with increased workloads for staff.

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Students new to Canada have more complex needs, said spokesperson Twylla West, and so part of the strain has been about divvying resources.

It’s meant English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers have been pulled to help do intake assessments for these new students, taking them out of classrooms.

“It impacts how much time one staff member can devote to each individual student,” said West, in an interview Wednesday.

“We can only shuffle so much,” Kramer added. “And these are not typical students.”

Regina Public School Division (RPSD) confirmed a similar situation. Enrollment has increased by 563 students since Sept. 30, all are considered to be unfunded.

Projected enrollment laid out at that time estimated a total of 25,734 students this year, said the RPSD. Actual enrollment, as of April, surpasses that estimate by 54 students.

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Spokesperson Terry Lazarou, in an email statement Tuesday, said the RPSD has welcomed 737 students through the Newcomer Welcome Center since this fall.

“Growth is welcome, but we need equitable funding in order to provide each student with equitable educational programming,” said Lazarou.

Saskatoon and Regina’s school divisions are reportedly planning to pen a letter to the ministry, asking for a solution, as it’s expected Saskatchewan’s immigration rates will remain this high through next year.

Kramer said the best fix would be for the ministry to add a second funding adjustment to the school year in January, as a temporary measure.

“With these new immigration trends, it is unprecedented,” he said. “It would be helpful when immigration is high, and so when divisions are seeing an influx of enrollment, that could be addressed.”

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In 2023-24, the Ministry of Education is set to receive an increase of $49.9 million, or 2.5 per cent, for operational funding distributed across the province’s school divisions over last year’s budget.

Kramer clarified that since there was a $20 million top-up in July and $15.5 million for enrollment given in November, that increase is actually less than $15 million, or 0.7 per cent from 2022-23 spending.

Regina Catholic is set to receive around $121.3 million in funding for 2023-24, but Kramer says that will fall short of even meeting status quo.

“Those pressures have been compounding, year after year. We’re not making whole and so we’ve been having to try and find savings,” he said.

He estimates the division is looking at an incoming $1.2 million shortfall this year. Last year, Regina Catholic received a $1.014 million increase, or about one per cent, and used $800,000 in reserve funds to balance its spreadsheets for the year.

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West said at the time things had been trimmed as closely as possible, while still maintaining an educational standard in classrooms. Looking ahead, she said the division is now “down to the essentials.”

“We’re digging through our couch cushions,” said West.

— A previous version of this article summarized analysis of the 2023-24 budget provisions incorrectly, and has been updated. The Leader-Post regrets this error.

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