School District makes budget changes

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SD22’s amended budget for 2021/22 (graphic courtesy of School District 22)

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The documents presented to the trustees during the board meeting note that the revenue is set at just over $113-million, and that the school district is forecasting expenses of $117-million.

This would create a net expense of $4,323,153, but the budget will allocate a surplus of $4,382,607 to cover that cost, leaving a surplus of $59,454 in the budget for the end of the year.

Acting Secretary-Treasurer Adrian Johnson told trustees that roughly $77-million of the budget is allocated directly to schools to cover costs, a majority of which has to do with teachers’ pay.

Budget allocations (graphic courtesy of school district 22)

Johnson said there is currently a $1.2-million recurring shortfall, which equates to about one per cent of the overall budget.

“One per cent is kind of within the margin of error, however it’s on the wrong side of the margin of error,” said Johnson.

“It’s showing that we’re spending more money than we have, not the other way around, which creates risk and it’s something we’ll have to address going into the next school year’s budget.”

Also included in the amended budget are some one-year-only positions, including a school psychologist, enhanced cleaners, one literacy support teacher and 0.1 full-time equivalent of divisional administration time for principals and vice-principals.

The financial document also had restricted surpluses, which can only be used for specific programs such as Indigenous education and professional development obligations to unions. Johnson said those surpluses likely won’t all be spent this school year and will need to be carried over to the next year.

Johnson stated that staff absenteeism is a key concern and an unknown this year. The school division has less money allocated to this than the year before as there were federal grants to support absenteeism in 2020.

As of the end of December, the district had already spent $1,472,168, or 42 per cent of the money allocated for staff absences. At the same time last year, the district had spent 36 per cent, or $1,227,207, of it’s budget on absentees.

Johnson did note that this is still an unknown factor on the budget as staff absenteeism dropped significantly after spring break last year, which could happen again this year.

Another key unknown in this budget is the $1.1-million allocated for paramedical costs through medical plan benefits. Johnson said more people have been taking advantage of things like massage therapy, physiotherapy and dental coverage since the start of the pandemic, which in turn affects the district’s own costs.

The school district has been able to return to near-pre-pandemic levels for it’s international program this year, hosting over 220 international students. Johnson said this could result in nearly $600,000 in international profits, though that hasn’t been confirmed and therefore not added to the budget.

It was noted during the meeting that the budget forecasts reserves of $549,936, which when paired with the potential $600,000 from the international program could get close to offsetting the $1.2-million shortfall.

The amended budget bylaw was given three readings by trustees Wednesday night. It will be brought to the public in the coming weeks for engagement and input before being considered for final approval.