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Tuesday afternoon, Morgan further contradicted the letter written by his own staff member in saying capturing attrition can be used to achieve the reduction target.

He said “nothing is taken off the table”, despite the letter outlining options — like layoffs and attrition — that were to be taken off the table.

MacRae, Morgan said, was “at odds” with the direction Doherty gave on Monday and “the Finance Minister was correct.”

Morgan admitted to not seeing the letter before it was sent out to the province’s 29 school board chairs.

“I haven’t seen it. I saw it after it had gone out and it’s incorrect,” he said, adding his office has correspondence going out “all the time” and the direction was to try and engage with unions to find savings.

According to Morgan, Ministry of Education staffers are now sending out a clarification letter “sooner rather than later”.

“We need to take a clear position when we’re dealing with the unions,” he said.

The province wanting to do so makes sense, given its agreement with more than 13,000 teachers expires at the end of August and negotiations for a new contract are set to begin next month.

Tuesday morning saw the Saskatchewan School Board Association (SSBA) holding a press conference focused on the organization’s effort to seek clarity over how the government expects them to meet the 3.5 per cent budget cut.

“I’m hearing some things that are contradictory to what’s in this letter and we need clarity around those contradictions, because how can we meet a directive if the story keeps changing,” Shawn Davidson, president of the SSBA.

Beyond the 3.5 per cent compensation cost reduction, the province is also expecting school boards to make up for a $55 million budget shortfall to education.

dfraser@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/dcfraser