The Chinook School Division has sent an open letter to parents in the southwest hoping to better educate them on their ongoing funding struggles with the provincial government.

The three-page thorough document created by Chinook was dated May 26 and detailed the reduction in funding they've been experiencing for almost a decade now.

Chinook received $85 million for the 2015-16 budget with 5,910 students. Eight years later, they're projected to receive $82 million for the 2023-24 budget with 5,964 students. 

Kim Pridmore, the board chair of the Chinook School Division, said the intent behind the letter is to inform the public about what the future will hold if funding doesn't increase substantially and quickly.

"All we want people to understand is that if our tax dollars don't start coming back as an investment in education, any reduction we have to make from here on out will have an impact on every student, every family, and every community in the southwest," she said Tuesday morning.

What the funding figures don't take into account according to the division is inflation, that's around 20 per cent during that time using the Saskatchewan Government's website.

"The gap just continues to widen and it makes it that much harder for us every year to get back to the level of service we once had," she said.  

The 2023-24 budget has not been approved by the board yet but it appears Chinook will be drawing about $3.5 million from their unrestricted reserves to cover the shortage in funding. That's after making some minor cuts to all areas of the budget. 

"Based on the ratio we use in our division as far as the student-to-staffing ratio, we were a little bit overstaffed in a few schools and we adjusted those accordingly," Pridmore said. 

Chinook will have approximately $7 million left in unrestricted reserves after they cover the budget shortfall for 2023-24. They've used 65 per cent of reserves in the last few years and those reserves project to be completely used up in a maximum of two years with a similar deficit level, depending on inflation and funding factors.

"We may have been in a slightly better position because of our reserves but it's clear now those will be gone in the next couple of years," she said. "Things may change but they will have to change a lot to see a difference."  

At the end of the letter, Chinook encouraged parents to reach out to local MLAs, the Minister of Education, or even the Saskatchewan Premier.