Less students are expected next year in School District 57 but there's enough money in the kitty to ensure there will be a balanced budget, with no school closures and no program cutbacks.
Trustees approved third and final reading Tuesday night for a proposed operating budget of $123,270,849 for the 2012-13 school year.
"We are presenting to the board a status quo budget which means all the programs that are in place are continuing, there are no reductions around school closures and there are no introductions of new programs," said school board secretary-treasurer Bryan Mix.
"We are not allowed to file a deficit budget operating statement."
The budget, presented Tuesday by board manager of finance Allan Reed, includes $50.9 million in teachers' wages, $6.4 million for principals and vice-principals, $7.7 million for educational assistants, $12.1 million for support staff, $3.1 million for other professionals, and $4.3 million for substitute teachers -- a total of $84.8 million in salaries.
Funding for teachers' salaries dropped $3.2 million from the 2012 amended budget, from $51,731,426 to $50,925,060, while funding for principals and vice-principals increased by $73,000, from $6,419,328 to $6,492,329.
Employee benefits amount to $19.78 million.
Total revenues amount to $123,481,170.
The Learning Improvement Fund (LIF) added $1.534 million to total revenue. That represents the first of three years of provincial money as a result of Bill 22 legislation, which provides schools more money to address the B.C. Supreme Court decision in 2001 on class size and class composition, which ruled in favour of the B.C. Teachers' Association. The LIF total also includes money the province saved in wages during the three-day teachers' strike in March.
Having sat on the board during the last round of school closures in 2010, school board chair Sharel Warrington and trustee Trish Bella were relieved there was no need for that kind of debate this year. Since 2002, 22 schools were closed in School District 57.
"I'm very excited that we can move forward in a positive way and get some things back into play again with some money," said Bella, now in her second term with the board.
"What was done with previous boards has put us in a good spot going forward. As tough as that was, it gave us that a chance to start fresh and not prolong it on everybody."
