The School District #83 budget advisory committee is looking at a menu of possible cuts for the upcoming budget year.
The current suggestions, however, are still short of a balanced budget.
Following the release of funding numbers by the Ministry of Education, this school district must cut $1.1 million from its operating budget for this year in order to balance the budget. School districts across the province cannot operate with a deficit.
The initial list put together for deliberation by the budget advisory committee leaves little room for trustees to pick and choose which programs would be cut, unless the committee adds more items to the list.
As the budget process is in the early stages, none of the suggested cuts would be approved until trustees vote on the final budget in May.
Adding another layer to the debate is the school district’s practice of transferring its previous year’s operational surplus into the capital fund. This sparked controversy over the past week when it was revealed that the school district transferred $10.5 million in operational surplus to capital over the last five years to pay for buildings, furniture, computers and renovations.
There is approximately $1 million on the books to be transferred from the current year’s budget, all of which has been earmarked for renovations to Carlin Elementary/Middle School. The committee had some preliminary discussion on