School District 57's $1-million deficit got a surprise cash-flow Tuesday after the Ministry of Education announced an extra $25 million in funding.
That matches the amount districts were supposed to make in administrative savings this year, a total that amounted to $622,655 for Prince George and its rural schools.
The move comes ahead of tonight's school board meeting for third reading of the budget. Last year the administrative savings required by the province meant the district had to cut $727,000 from the budget and this year a line item on tonight's budget totals the $622,655 given back Tuesday morning.
To find the savings, trustees had considered solutions like adding a bussing fee for parents, an option the board ultimatelly scrapped.
While the money is welcome, the timing is not.
The move came "out of the blue" and "out of left field," said chairperson Tony Cable.
“Over the last three years our district and every district in the province has gone through hell trying to find money and trying to balance budgets,” said Cable. "It’s very very hard to not be a little cynical. As everyone knows next May we have an election."
The money was initially to be returned to the government in the form of administrative savings. Now, boards can keep the savings to spend as they see fit, Education Minister Mike Bernier said Tuesday.
“Districts worked hard to reduce their administrative costs and we are pleased to be able to direct that $25 million back to programs and initiatives that will directly benefit the kids of B.C.,” Bernier said. A ministry spokesman said it's up to each board how they will use the money, which means it could go back into the areas it pulled from to meet the administrative savings requirement.
Before the announcement, it looked like District 57 would have to pull more than $1 million from its already-depleted contingency fund to deal with the defecit. If that happens, it will leave just under $2 million in that pot, a practice trustees have repeatedly said is not sustainable.
The deadline for balanced budget submissions is June 30 and Cable said the board will have to decide if it can proceed with third reading of the budget needs to be sent back to staff.
"It may have some real ramifications on our discussions…The frustrating thing for the school district is we have put our financial staff through such rigors,” he said, to find money and use the required templates to report the savings. “It’s involved so much time and effort and stress.”
But district Secretary-Treasurer Allan Reed said if the board decideds it could move forward with the budget.
Cable said boards across the province have been lobbying the government about overturning the administrative savings approach.
Other boards spoke out loudly about budget shortfalls, including in Saanich where trustees passed a budget that includes nearly $1 million in "anticipated revenue from government." Provincially, the group Families Against Cuts to Education says 31 districts are so far reporting a combined shortfall of more than $85 million in their budgets for next year.
Some of the reasons for the shortfalls across the province include mandatory technology upgrades estimated at $24 million this year, salary lifts for non-union staff members, and other cost increases like rising BC Hydro costs and MSP premiums, school board officials have said. The required administrative savings added $25 million to the provincial shortfall.
B.C. Teachers’ Federation president Jim Iker said public pressure for more funding is working.
“The return of this $25 million cut is an important turning point for public education as it shows the government is feeling the pressure one year out from a provincial election,” Iker said. “While the returned funding will not solve the funding crisis facing our schools, it will bring some much needed relief.”
- with files from The Vancouver Sun
