The trustees of School District 52 delivered their 2019 budget on Tuesday evening, and after three months of consultations and review, the bottom line for the next school year will bring a number of staff cuts and reductions for educational departments, as well as for the SD52 IT department.
With those elements making for the changes that were required by the School District to reach the balanced budget mandate.
After their review, SD52 officials announced total cuts to all areas to be set at $710,500 while new spending of $115,000 was approved.
When trustees were finished adding to the debit and credit columns, the 2019 financial plan makes for an approved operating budget of $26,228,000.
The full range of the cut programs and reduced staffing can be reviewed in the chart below, with the focus directed towards the high school level owing to lower levels of students currently working their way towards Charles Hays Secondary and the Pacific Coast school from the middle school stream.
The School District did add to the spending side of the budget program, announcing the approval of new Spending of $115,000 for the year ahead.
$100,000 of that total will be allocated towards a program presented on Monday night by Superintendent Irene LaPierre, who outlined the details of the Early Literacy Intervention Plan, that project is directed towards supports for children in kindergarten and Grade 1.
As per their Surplus policy, the District budget will reflect a reserve of $513,600 or 1.96% of the budget, that as a contingency to be used should any future operational issues arise.
The School District's Surplus Policy notes that that the contingency funding on hand should be maintained at a level between 2 and 4 percent of the operating budget
In his first budget as Chair of SD52, James Horne observed that there were a number of challenges to consider as the Board of Education took to its duties this winter.
"The Board faced a tremendous challenge to address the needs of our students within a balanced budget. The Board was unified in its support of the Early Literacy Intervention Plan proposed by the Superintendent, and that was the only significant program approved."
The April 9th report also made note of some adjustments that have been made to the announced funding from the Ministry of Education towards the Aboriginal Education Budget, which will see an increase of $275,000 in targeted funding for the 2019-2020 school year.
How to make use of that funding will be determined by the Aboriginal Education Council, which could put them to use to support some of the budget requests that the Board could not approve within its balanced budget requirement.
The April 9th School District also heard some reports on a number of recent initiatives including the Spring Break trip to Costa Rica by the Pacific Coast School, with Chairman Horne observing on some of the themes that the students absorbed while in Central America.
"The Board of Education was impressed by the confidence of the students as they presented highlights of their trip. They learned about the importance of biodiversity and this knowledge is transferable to their own environment here in Prince Rupert."
A look back at the recent Science Fair over the past weekend of April 5th and 6th was also provided, with the event which was held at Charles Hays Secondary featuring close to 60 participants, with Students from SD52 receiving 23 awards.
Two students rose to the top of the competition and will be moving on to the Canada Wide Science Fair.
The School District also approved the school calendar for 2019-2020, which once again will include a two week in duration Spring Break, which has been scheduled for March 16 to March 27, 2020.
More background on the April 9th School District meeting can be found here.
A look at our Education archives for Prince Rupert and across the Northwest can be explored here.
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