The board of trustees voted to adopt the 2019-20 amended budget at the February School District No. 46 (SD46) regular board meeting.
The total budget for 2019-20 is $52 million, up from the $49.8-million budget adopted last June. It is typical for amendments to be made towards the end of the budget cycle.
The bulk of funding for SD46 comes through operating grants from the Ministry of Education based on enrolment. The district also generates revenue from a combination of investments, rentals and leases and through an agreement with School District No. 93, which provides French language education, and other sources.
The updated operating budget for the 2019 to 2020 school year is $44,588,00, which covers teaching, administrative, maintenance and other costs. The capital budget is $2,209,600, which covers building, vehicle and other infrastructure costs. The updated budget also includes $5,330,600 in special purpose grants – funding designated for a sole purpose, such as scholarships and bursaries, meal programs, as well as the classroom enhancement fund (CEF). Provided through the ministry, the CEF helps school districts restore class size and composition limits, as required by a 2017 Supreme Court decision.
The most substantial budget amendment was the addition of school-level surpluses carried forward from June 2019, amounting to $1.5 million. Spending at the school level is determined by school and district leadership.
Another change came in the form of enrolment. While enrolment for regular students was lower than predicted by about 16 students, the number of “unique needs” and other student categories were higher than predicted. “The combined change led to an increase in revenue coming into the district,” said SD46 secretary-treasurer Nicholas Weswick, which resulted in about a $200,000 increase.
The province also provided the remainder of the CEF for the year, amounting to about $370,000 more than last June’s preliminary budget.
The adoption also came following the results of a survey asking whether the district should continue purchasing school supplies for students in the 2020-21 budget – a policy that came into effect in the 2019-20 budget. The majority of parents, teachers and CUPE 801 staff who responded – 77 per cent – affirmed they should. Of the students surveyed, 93 per cent supported the policy.
At the January board meeting, trustees had voted to hold off including the provision of school supplies in the 2020-21 budget until they heard from stakeholders.
At the end of the Feb. 12 board meeting, Janice Budgell, representing CUPE Local 801, raised concern over the survey. “I was quite disappointed it was a yes or no answer,” she said, adding there should be support for students who need them but the survey didn’t provide an opportunity to capture a more nuanced perspective on the issue.
She also said the survey was misleading, since it implied respondents didn’t support underprivileged students if they voted against the district paying for supplies.
SD46 board chair Pammila Ruth responded to the concern, telling Budgell, “We’re always open to people bringing their opinion,” and that students “are not being forced” to take specific supplies.
Superintendent Patrick Bocking told Budgell, “We expect our students to have the basic level of supplies, and that’s what we provide.”
Preliminary budget discussions for 2020-21 took place at the February operations committee meeting and were expected to continue at the regular board meeting March 4.
Changes could also be coming to this year’s budget because of a revised funding formula from the ministry. “We recognize that there are changes that are going to be coming, but the impact of many of those changes is yet to be determined at the local level,” Weswick said.
