The Prairie Spirit School Division is facing an additional $3 million in budget reductions. Last year, more than $4 million in reductions were made to the Prairie Spirit's budget due to provincial funding. In addition to making budget reductions of over $4 million, the Prairie Spirit Board of Education was forced to use $2.5 million in reserve funds to balance the budget. This was the second straight year the budget was balanced using reserve funds.

Without any increase in funding, Prairie Spirit's funding shortfall is estimated at $3 million or higher, which includes the $2.5 million shortfall from the 2015/16 budget. Instructional staffing represents nearly 70% of the school division's budget.

Without a provincial budget, Prairie Spirit must estimate the shortfall and act accordingly. To reduce the operational budget by $3 million, up to 75 full time jobs could be axed, which would represent 6% of the Prairie Spirit staff.

Following the budget announcement in May, the board will review the funding allocated to the school division and make any neccessary adjustments to the budget.