Province investing $32 million to add 45 new portable classrooms

The Saskatchewan government is adding more classroom space around the province in an effort to address concerns raised by teachers.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education announced an additional $32 million in funding to add 45 new portable classrooms to schools around the province.

The majority of the new funding will go to Regina and Saskatoon, where populations are growing at the quickest rate, but schools in Humboldt, Lloydminster, Lumsden, Pilot Butte, Warman and Weyburn will also have more classrooms added.

The move comes after negotiations between the government and Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation broke down on Tuesday. The issue has been a sticking point for teachers, with the union pushing for stipulations on class size to be included in their new contract.

So far, the government has not been willing to include such measures in a new collective agreement, saying the issues are best managed locally by school divisions.

Teachers are planning to resume rotating strikes on Friday, along with a planned withdrawal of lunch-hour supervision at schools around the province.

“Our government is committed to working with our educational partners to help address the concerns around class size that we are seeing in some of our schools,” Jeremy Cockrill, Saskatchewan’s education minister, said in a statement.

“This additional funding will help school divisions better manage, at the local level, enrolment pressures in the fastest-growing areas of the province.”

The province announced $16 million for 23 portable classrooms and two classroom moves in the 2023-24 budget, bringing the total investment up to $48 million.