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By Brendan Miller

Catholic and Prairie Rose school divisions plan to hire more teachers next fall

May 30, 2023 | 4:56 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The Medicine Hat Catholic and Prairie Rose school divisions expect to have more teachers in their classrooms next year.

Both school divisions plan to use the additional funding to increase the services they provide to their students.

On Monday, the Catholic Board of Education approved its 2023-24 budget with a surplus of $3.2 million. To improve the quality of education for students, the division says they plan on hiring seven more full-time teachers next year.

Secretary treasurer Greg MacPherson says the division also plans to hire four full-time support staff and educational assistants to support students with special learning needs.

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“We’re seeing larger numbers of teachers within our learning services environment, so providing support to students with learning challenges and ensuring they are able to achieve and maintain their levels of education required,” says MacPherson.

The Catholic school division anticipates a slight increase with 17 new students expected to enrol for the upcoming school year.

“We are very excited and very pleased with those results and I think it’s a testament to the programming as well as the academic achievement that our schools provide,” explains MacPherson.

The school division is also receiving an extra $470,000 for transportation under a new provincial funding model. The money will help cover wages and additional training for school bus drivers as well as the addition of three new bus routes.

“We’re very excited about this budget. Obviously with new grants we are able to provide more service to students,” says MacPherson. “The additional busing is going to have a very positive effect and having more teachers and support staff within the schools is going to provide a better education for students.”

Prairie Rose Public Schools approved its 2023-24 budget with an overall increase in revenues of more than $3 million and running a deficit of $166,000.

Chief financial officer Ryan Boser says that will give the division the ability to hire four more full-time teachers.

“Ultimately it allowed us to add staff in the division and add additional support for our students as well,” explains Boser.

It will also allow the division to hire three or four support staff, which includes a full-time therapist and speech pathologist.

“We have some therapy assistant hours that will be added, some speech pathologist hours that will be added for support for our students as well. So it’s just huge for the division to add at this time,” says Boser.

Boser says the budget will also allow the division to employ eight full-time councillors in their schools to provide students with additional support.

“It’s big for the division to be able to add that. I mean we’ve been going through a lot in the world over the last number of years so adding these extra levels of support is good for families and Prairie Rose students as well,” adds Boser.

With additional transportation funding from the province the Prairie Rose School division plans to add four additional bus routes to address their long wait times as well as purchase new location-tracking software for their buses.

As students get ready to enjoy their upcoming summer break, school divisions will be busy hiring more teachers, planning new bus routes and improving the quality of education for students in the region.