School District #27 (SD27) trustees made the unanimous decision at a recent closed-door board meeting to not consider closing any more schools to help balance the 2015/16 budget.
However, they must cut the budget by $800,000 again this year.
This is due to funding reductions the Ministry of Education announced last year, which are linked to the district’s declining student enrolment.
The government’s move is also expected to also systemically reduce SD27’s budget for each of the next four years or longer by $800,000 (1.5 per cent), depending on enrolment stabilization.
Trustees asked the public for input and ideas through an online survey that ran until March 6. Then SD27 staff began the draft budget process, considering the public comments, and will bring the document back to the trustees at the public board meetings in Williams Lake (April 28) and 100 Mile House (May 26).
SD27 chair Tanya Guenther says the board had already consulted the business and education committees, all of the official stakeholders hoping they and the general public would provide ideas and some options.
While the survey is over, she notes SD27 will also accept comments at the board meetings under the guidelines outlined in the agenda (also online).
Schools superintendent Mark Thiessen adds letters are accepted at any time, but as the process will soon be underway, he suggests referring to the budget timeline posted on the district website at www.sd27.bc.ca.
During the past two years, trustees have met this budget challenge by reducing departmental budgets, closing schools and ending programs, and reducing staff, he notes.
“This is always a difficult process. We wish we were in a phase where we were being given more funding from the government. We would love to be adding instead of subtracting from the education system.”
Thiessen adds trustees and senior management will continue to focus efforts on budget reductions that have little, or no, impact on students and classrooms.
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