After students were back in the classroom on September 22, the Ministry of Education asked for the portion of the annual budget that remained unspent for the days where teachers were still on the picket lines.
Natalie Verigin, secretary-treasurer for SD#20, says the school board will be paying back 100 per cent of savings during the strike to the provincial government.
“(There was) $1,146,000 estimated savings in teacher wages and cost sensitive benefits,” she said of the 13 strike days in September.
“(It is) about the same amount of savings as June. There were 13 strike days in September and 12 strike days in June, but in June, we also had to deduct 10 per cent for the remaining days due to the lock-out.”
School boards across the province were instructed to return 80 per cent of budget savings from June.
Verigin isn’t sure when the money will be going back, but she thinks she knows why they want 100 per cent back this time around.
“My thoughts are that it is likely related to the Temporary Education Support Program (TESP) that the government promised parents,” she said, referring to the $40 per day of the strike being paid out to parents with kids age 12 and under.
Parents who qualified and applied for the TESP will start receiving checks from the province by the end of October.