Jim Shevchuk, Living Sky School Division superintendent of learning, said this year "highlighted for me more than any other year, that the economic downturn in Saskatchewan and the reality of rural Saskatchewan has now hit."
"I think we were sort of living in a bit of a bubble with places like Unity and even Macklin holding its own" adding enrolment at Medstead and Hafford increased.
Yet, "we're now seeing a decline," Shevchuk said. "Unity didn't grow this year, and almost every other rural school, with the exception of one or two students in a couple places where they went up, has declined from what we thought the projection would be."
Reasons include migration to cities, Shevchuk said.
The school division has a total 811 employees, including 354 teachers and 155 educational assistants. Eight per cent are self-declared First Nation/Métis/Inuit, 2.3 per cent are visible minority (a category which doesn't include Aboriginal people), and 1.42 identify as persons with a disability. According to Living Sky, 76 per cent are female, while 24 per cent are male.
Shevchuk said self-declaring people make up about 10 per cent of civil servants in the provincial workforce, and 10 per cent is a goal for the school division.
Many Living Sky students are First Nation, and Shevchuk said more self-declaring people in mentoring positions is positive for students.
Shevchuk said "usually the people who self-declare are the last ones in and generally the first ones out. Eight per cent we had five years ago is a different eight per cent we have this year."
Some former staff Shevchuk mentioned now work at the City of North Battleford and in Saskatoon as a teacher.
Shevchuk also spoke about student enrolment.
He said division funding "has dropped more than eight per cent over the past five years, but I think that is actually the magic number," as student enrolment has dropped approximately eight per cent.
Five years ago, 384 teachers worked for the division, Shevchuk said.
