The Prairie Spirit Board of Education approved its 2022/23 budget at the last Board meeting of the school year on Monday.

The board describes the balanced budget as a “maintenance” budget in an unprecedented time.

And in order to achieve that balance, they had to dip into reserves.

In 2022/23, Prairie Spirit will receive an increase of 2.03% in provincial funding over the previous year. This increase will fund the 2% salary increase for teachers as part of the provincial Teachers’ Collective Bargaining Agreement but will not fully cover other inflationary costs like gas, support staff salaries and utilities

The Division’s funding is based on a projected enrolment of 11,929 students, an increase of approximately 150 students over last year. And the Board says over the past 10 years, Prairie Spirit made significant budget reductions in response to provincial funding levels, despite increasing enrolments in Division schools during that time.

Board Chair Bernie Howe says they are concerned about sustainability because they’re using reserves to balance the budget.

Prairie Spirit School Division serves approximately 12,000 students in 47 schools and 28 communities surrounding the City of Saskatoon.