Government Develops New Formula to Support School Enrolment Growth

Released on February 15, 2024

With recent immigration, a new trend has emerged where students continue to arrive in Saskatchewan schools throughout the school year. Government remains committed to supporting enrolment growth past the start of each school year. 

The Ministry of Education has been working with a committee comprised of partners in the education sector to come up with a new formula for ongoing support for school divisions that see a substantial increase in enrolment growth past September 30.

"Our schools are welcoming more and more students," Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said. "We know that enrolment growth has been trending upward for the past number of years and we continue to work with school boards to fund enrolment increases to support students, teachers and staff in the classroom."

To recognize significant in-year enrolment growth, a threshold was developed to determine school division eligibility for post-September enrolment growth funding. The new formula measures actual growth from October 1 to January 31, and projects growth through the spring months. Estimating total growth at the end of January aligns with the start of semester two and allows school divisions to plan and staff more effectively for the rest of the school year. In-year enrolment growth is evaluated based on the overall change at the school division level. This option recognizes significant in-year enrolment growth and allocates funding to where the need is greatest.

On June 1, 2023, the Government of Saskatchewan announced an additional $40 million for Saskatchewan's 27 school divisions to support enrolment growth and the complexity of today's classrooms. With this announcement, operating funding has grown to $2.08 billion for the 2023-24 school year, an increase of $89.4 million or 4.5 per cent over the 2022-23 school year.

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