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By Caden Fanshaw

SD 57

UPDATED: SD57 facing $2.3m budget shortfall, staffing cuts expected

May 30, 2023 | 1:21 PM

UPDATED – School District 57 Trustees will have to wait until June to pass a budget as the the finance department of the district was forced to await final funding numbers from the Ministry of Education and Childcare.

According to SD57 documents the budget shortfall was projected at $2 million, but after a discussion from Acting Secretary Treasurer Lynda Minnabarriet it will be roughly $300k more.

The Acting Secretary Treasurer said a grant for staff funding was projected to come in at $1.1 million but only came in with $800k of funds meaning an extra $300k will need to be found in savings to balance the budget. By law in BC all school districts need to pass a balanced budget each year.

SD57 has already used surplus funds to help get the budget within $300k of being balanced. It is unknown where funds will come from to get to the balanced point for 2023/24, there are still some surplus funds the district could use.

In a post-meeting interview, Chair Rachael Weber said she is determined to keep the cuts out of the classroom after being successful in that effort thus far.

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When asked if the severance of past SD57 Superintendents is having impacts on the budget, Weber said she is not concerned with those numbers to this point.

88% of the SD57 budget is allocated to employees, which according to staff makes keeping cuts outside of directly affecting people incredibly difficult.

PRINCE GEORGE — A sizeable budget shortfall will be discussed at Tuesday’s regular school board meeting.

According to School District 57, a multitude of factors have led to a shortfall of approximately $2 million for the 2023-24 budget.

Several reductions in the budget have been proposed by staff including cuts to several positions. Documents show one full-time fine arts position at the district level could be cut along with a communications position, and two full-time facilities positions.

Photo courtesy SD57 meeting agenda for May 30, 2023

The regular board meeting will begin at 4 pm with public input open at the conclusion of the meeting.

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Twitter: @CadenFanshaw

Email: Caden.Fanshaw@pattisonmedia.com