School district runs small surplus

The school district finished the year with a small surplus, an audit of financial statements has concluded, but parents should not get their hopes up about schools being reopened anytime soon.

On revenue of $128.9 million, the school district finished 2010-11 $1.8 million in the black, auditor Ron Epp told trustees Tuesday night, compared to a $2.8-million deficiency for 2009-10, which was covered by reserves.

The school district's accumulated surplus stood at $11.1 million, but $8.2 million is already "spoken for," Epp said, in terms of unexpended school operating and capital budgets, and commitments to programs.

The remaining $2.9 million, in turn, has gone into "future budgets, leaving at the end of the day, the amount of zero," Epp continued. "So what appears to be a fairly healthy unrestricted surplus is actually all spoken for."

School districts are restricted from running deficits without provincial government approval and secretary-treasurer Brian Mix said the $2.9 million will be needed to offset reductions the provincial government is expected to make in the funding protection and the enrollment decline grants.

"That money will be needed just to meet the basic services the school district has provided because of the other issues," Mix said.

The surplus represents only a small percentage of the budget, Mix emphasized.

"My fear is that $2.9 million will not be enough," Mix said.

Trustee Lois Boone compared the situation to a household with cash on hand that's already been earmarked for an expense down the road.

"That's money you're not going to be spending on something else when you in fact know that it has to be spent on something that you've already decided to purchase," Boone said.

Superintendent Brian Pepper said about $5.2 million of the $8.2 million is for unexpected school operating budgets and portions have already been spent on staff and additional resources while other amounts are being held in savings for anticipated spending in the next semester.

And he said money is being held back for longer-term spending on equipment for labs and shops.

He also said a significant portion of the remaining $8.2 million was due to a restructuring of the aboriginal education program early in the 2010-11 year.

"As a result of that, not everyone was hired right from the beginning of the school year," Pepper said. "In fact, that process is still going on and as a result of that we had an additional surplus over this past year."