PRINCE ALBERT — The Saskatchewan Rivers School Division reported a slight increase in the number of teachers who identify as First Nations or Métis heading into the 2023-24 school year.
The division’s board had a look at staffing numbers in the yearly accountability report presented by Superintendents of Schools Corey Trann and Jeff Court at their regular meeting recently.
Director of Education Neil Finch said that he is impressed with several areas of the report but one highlight was the First Nations-Métis-Indigenous (FNMI) category.
“The one thing that I think we do really well as a school division and that I think we can be really proud of is the amount of self-declared First Nations/Metis employees that we have working for us,” Finch said.
There are currently 164 Métis educators and 26 First Nations.
The division has 190 educators in the First Nations-Métis-Indigenous category which is an increase from the 181 in last year’s report. The data does not include other employees.
“I think that that's something that we strive to continue to do is to have a diverse staff that helps serve a diverse student population,” Finch said.
“Knowing that this past year we had 190 teachers that self-declared to either being Indigenous or Metis and that to me is something to be really proud of because that is a high percentage of our folks, we hover around 30 per cent of our teaching staff that would be self-declared and that is reflective of our community that is around us as well,” he added.
The division has also increased the number of superintendents in charge of the human resources in the division. Previously Trann was the lone superintendent but as of July 1 Court came aboard as well. The two are split with Trann in charge of teachers and Court responsible for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) pool. Finch said that the change was made July 1 after an annual review of superintendent duties.
"It was a model that we used. I'm going to say five or six years ago where we had two people overseeing HR and there's a large volume that comes that direction. We thought having two people oversee it was going to be valuable for the system,” he said.
The workload for one superintendent on the file could also be daunting.
“Including subs, we have 1,700 employees so to have one person overseeing 1,700 employees that is a big job,” Finch said.
During the 2023-24 school year, there were more than 553 full-time equivalent teachers in the division with 32 principals and 25 vice principals. There were 18 female and 14 male principals 17 female and seven male vice-principals.
Over 25 full-time equivalent employees were working out of the Education Centre.
The total budget for teachers and administration was $52.2 million. The largest percentage of money spent on salary goes to teachers at 84 per cent of the total.
“And the highest amount of our dollars from our $100 million budget go into the classroom,” Finch said.
The division saw a modest turnover of 4.9 percent including early resignations and retirements.
The division is down eight full-time equivalent teachers for the 2024-2025 school year through the budget allocation.
Saskatchewan Rivers also has a first and second year program where newer teachers meet formally throughout the year. There are also formal classroom visits from the superintendent in charge, this year it has been assigned to the new superintendent Jeff Court.
There is also an educational bursary offered to a maximum of $85,000 in the division. This year there were 56 applicants in two intakes and they paid out a total of $52,217.
Teacher recruitment is ongoing and a year-long focus, but the main efforts come during recruitment fairs at the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan in January and February. The division also attends other fairs if necessary.
The substitute list in the division is around 200 people made up mostly of current teachers but also includes 80 retired teachers. Over the past couple of years, the division has had difficulty maintaining an adequate substitute list.
In 2023-2024 there were over 489 employees in the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) pool with EA (Educational Associates) making up the largest number with over 233. There are also 62 employees through separate funding arrangements, along with 26 Out-of-Scope personnel.
The total non-teacher employee salaries are $21.9 million. This includes accounting and payroll, computer technicians, bus drivers, caretakers, educational associates, language associates, library staff, maintenance staff, mechanics, mentors, KidsFirst project coordinators, social workers and secretaries.
The total staff in the division numbers 1,732 of staff shows 76 per cent and 24 per cent male with all staff in all areas including teachers, CUPE and staff. The age categories show that there is 22 per cent in the 40 to 49 category and in the 50 to 59 category, 21 per cent in the 30 to 39 category, 15 per cent in the 60 to 69 category, 16 per cent in the 18 to 29 category and four per cent in 70 to 79 age category.
The division currently has 181 educators in the First Nations-Métis-Indigenous category which is consistent with recent years.
The division has strong recruitment according to the conclusion as they work with multiple universities. This year the division has 38 interns. They have had success in recruitment for French Immersion positions and in their Cree Language recruitment and other difficult positions and not lost them to other divisions.
The report's recommendation was to maintain current direction, ensuring staff remains at the best level to serve students.
