School District No. 57 (SD57)’s board of education has passed a $199,164,132 balanced budget for the 2023/24 fiscal year but it was not without difficulty and more tough decisions are ahead.
Budget discussions at last month’s meeting revealed the district was facing a $2,359,303 shortfall.
In order to balance the budget, the board proposed $1,780,261 in cost reductions, with the rest to be made up with the use of operating surplus.
Within that $1.7 million in cuts, $777,020 was taken out of district administration, representing a 12.18 per cent reduction and $690,239 was taken out of instruction, but this only makes up 0.51 per cent of the total instruction budget.
At its Tuesday night meeting, newly elected trustee Sarah Holland raised the question of what the district will do in the future if it continues to face financial challenges.
“The previous years surpluses have been drawn down to the point there’s not a lot of wiggle room in here. When do you suggest we start looking at making some major amendments next year because of what I see as a structural deficit previously funded by surplus’ as that is not going to be available in the future?” she asked
“That is correct. The district is in a structural deficit and there will need to be a concerted effort and focus earlier into the fall, I would say October to November, where I would expect district staff will provide a plan to the board on areas to review,” said acting secretary treasurer Lynda Minnabarriet.
“This has been a really difficult budget to balance,” said board chair Rachael Weber, following the meeting, which was the last one of the school year.
“We would like to reassure parents and students and teachers, rightsholders and stakeholders, that our primary goal was to minimize impacts in the classroom. We remain resolutely committed to working to ensure the district is meeting the needs of students.”
She said the board does intend to do an earlier review of next years’ budget with potentially greater reductions.
“We don't want to touch surplus to balance budget, it's not something that we want to do. It's not a healthy scenario but we are proud that we that we did balance the budget and that we were able to keep it out of the classrooms,” said Weber.
“Then moving forward, pulling ourselves out of that structural deficit, and really creating a space for things that arise in the future that we can use the surplus for when those things come up.”
Weber noted that it has been a challenging few years since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“I think it's just everything. I think it's what's been happening over the last few years with COVID. I think it's inflation. Our budget did increase, we have $199,164,132. So, it did go up, but not enough,” said Weber.
She said rightsholders and stakeholders will need to come together to push the government for more funding.
“It's been a very difficult challenging few years for these students, especially over COVID and we need to look at new ways to really support them.”
The board was required to submit a balanced budget to the Minister of Education and Child Care by June 30.
