Saskatchewan’s Education Minister agrees with the Conciliation Board’s recommendation that classroom size and composition shouldn’t be included in the contract talks between the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation and the Government Trustee Bargaining Committee.
Gord Wyant says he understands there is a challenge, he believes it should be approached outside of the collective bargaining agreement.
He explains that every classroom and school is different, so adding this to an agreement that generally isn’t that flexible is not the right avenue.
Wyant wrote a letter to both the President of the STF and the President of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, inviting them to meet to explore opportunities on this issue.

STF’s President, Patrick Maze says the Teachers Bargaining Committee will continue to seek a guarantee from government that adequate resources are committed to education, and unless the government’s position on class size and composition changes they won’t be coming back to the bargaining table.
In response the the Minister’s comment that each classroom and school is different, Maze says the SSBA reports almost every school division has deficit budgets because they don’t get enough funding.

The Conciliation Board’s report contains recommendations and they are not binding.
In the meantime, the STF has held a vote on sanctions with the results to be announced at the end of the month. (CKRM/CJWW)