Eagle River Secondary School in Sicamous finished the 2017-18 school year with the largest budget surplus of area schools, according to a report discussed at the last meeting of the North Okanagan-Shuswap School District Board of Education.
At the Oct. 16 meeting of the North Okanagan-Shuswap School District Board of Education the annual report of budget surplus and deficit from individual schools in the district was released.
The report gives a breakdown of surplus and deficit amounts from individual schools, and any school with a surplus over 10 per cent of their budget, or any deficit at all, were required to give an explanation of what led to it and plans for moving ahead. Unless otherwise stated, the district’s report says all surpluses and deficits will be addressed in the current school year.
Related: School District 83 reveals fall budget changes due to surplus funds
In Salmon Arm, the Salmon Arm Secondary Jackson campus ended with a deficit of $1,281, which was due to science department purchases. The deficit is stated to have been addressed early on in the current budget.
Bastion Elementary ended the year with a surplus of $9,063, and the report says this was due to a number of accounts being under-spent. In addition, Bastion incurred a surplus related to the South Canoe Elementary outdoor school, which was not initially part of the official budget as it was uncertain if it would be open for this school year. This surplus will be returned to South Canoe Elementary over the current school year.
Silver Creek Elementary ran a deficit of $1,945 which was the result of purchasing a set of chairs for a new classroom and replacing school signage.
Sorrento Elementary ended the previous year with a surplus of $4,764 which was meant for the purchase of new school furniture. These purchases were completed in the beginning of the current school year, according to the report.
Hillcrest Elementary saw a small deficit of $410 which was the result of bussing costs being slightly higher than expected during the year.
Salmon Arm West Elementary reported a surplus of $5,636 which was related to an overall District Numeracy Surplus. These surplus funds are held by schools and meant for the purchase of technology and supplies related to math studies, and will continue to be used by the school throughout the year to purchase these supplies and replace the school’s music sound system.
Related: School District 83 to offer online performing arts courses
North Shuswap Elementary had a surplus of $4,024 which was meant for field trip transportation but not needed due to grant funding and parent advisory council (PAC) funds covering the trip. These surplus funds will be used to purchase computers and learning apps for classroom use.
In Sicamous, Parkview Elementary ran a deficit of $2,569 due to bussing costs from swimming trips, which has already been addressed, according to the report.
Eagle River Secondary saw a surplus of $25,637 related to the new secondary school curriculum in B.C. Over the course of this year that surplus will be spent on items such as textbooks and classroom equipment for the school.
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