Government of Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan School Boards Association Announce Multi-Year Funding Agreement

Released on March 8, 2024

Government is committed to working with Saskatchewan's locally elected school boards to ensure that there is long-term and sustainable funding to support our classrooms. 

To demonstrate this, government is pleased to announce that it has signed a multi-year funding agreement with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA), with the support of Saskatchewan's locally elected boards of education. The agreement guarantees a base amount of long-term funding to school divisions and signifies a shared commitment to enhancing educational outcomes and providing additional classroom supports across the province. 

It provides a minimum of $356.6 million per year for four years for classroom supports as well as increased investment into youth mental health resources as part of a budget that marks the largest increase of $180 million to school operating funding ever. 

"This agreement provides a written guarantee, signed by the government, for long-term funding for classroom supports - funding that will address important issues like classroom size and complexity," Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said. "Now that our government has made this unprecedented commitment in a signed agreement, it's time for the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation to end their job action and return to the bargaining table, so that students and teachers can return to the classroom." 

"This agreement represents the willingness of both the Ministry of Education and school boards to work collaboratively toward solutions with some predictable and sustainable funding to back it up," SSBA President Jaimie Smith-Windsor said. "These issues are best addressed at the local level, working with teachers, staff, students, parents, and families." 

This partnership formalizes a commitment to ongoing collaboration between government and school boards in supporting students across the province and establishes a new pathway to long-term funding sustainability. This agreement underscores a mutual recognition of the importance of local decision-making, the diversity of Saskatchewan's communities, and signals strengthening relationships by providing direct investment for Saskatchewan classrooms.

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