While education is in a better place in Saskatchewan now that a binding arbitration agreement has been reached by the province and the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF), not everything is totally clear for the schools.
The province initially set out a number of budget items back when that was revealed in March, which would impact education. Because of the ongoing arbitration, administrators like Southeast Cornerstone Public School Division's Director of Education, Keith Keating, weren't fully sure where they stood.
Keating says they have not yet received any clarification on the budget, with that potentially coming by the end of April.
The current agreement can be confusing, as different interpretations of the agreement need to be acted on, says Keating.
"It's difficult to interpret some of the language of the agreement. However, we should be getting some clarity in May when the STF and the (Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee) come around and share their interpretations with school divisions."
One of those estimations from the STF details that 500 new teachers would be added to schools around Saskatchewan.
Keating thinks that having more teachers in the division would help, but hiring that many may not be feasible.
"I think the difficulty will be finding that many teachers across the province. This number is well above the numbers that are typically hired in a year. Even currently, without those added teachers, we do have difficulty sometimes in some of our communities recruiting enough to fill many vacancies in a normal year."
While Keating says that there are also a few more pieces they'll need clarity on before the next school year, he's overall happy that the province and teachers are moving forward.
"It's always good to have an agreement. It's good to provide some stability to the sector, and we're always excited for new school years."
The 2025-26 school year's first day of classes will take place on September 2nd for the Southeast Cornerstone Public School Division.