PRSD presents deficit budget targeted at literacy, deeper learning
By Medicine Hat News on November 30, 2018.
Jamie Rieger
jrieger@prairiepost.com
With decreasing enrolment numbers expected over the next few years in the Prairie Rose School Division, the board has taken steps to increase spending in efforts to stabilize those enrolment figures through additional programming.
Increased spending for new programs, such as the South Alberta Hockey Academy, will be money well spent, according to PRSD treasurer Ryan Boser.
“We got a sense in the springtime that we were going to come in under-budget, that was after the preliminary budget was completed,” said Boser. “So, you use that information that you have to help generate the budget decisions going forward.”
While PRSD is working with a deficit budget of $99,610 for the 2018-19 fiscal year, an increase of $76,235 from the preliminary budget presented earlier this year, the added programming and under-budget items will help in recovering the shortfall and work towards the board’s goal of balancing the budget.
In an overview of the budget report, Boser writes, “Given that the division’s reserves have decreased to a position where they will cover approximately only two more years of current spending levels, direction was provided by the Board of Trustees to get the 2018-19 fiscal year budget to or close to a balanced budget.”
Enrolment for Grades 1-12 decreased by 84.5 FTE from the previous school year, while average teacher cost increased only slightly.
In addition to the added programs, PRSD has included two main focuses for the coming years, ‘Literacy’ and ‘Deeper Learning’, both of which are reflected in the budget report.
“These are the two drivers of our next budget,” said Boser, noting that resources are being put in place to move forward with these goals and will be reflected in the budgets over the next three years.
Maintenance, transportation, and administrative services will also be reduced if provincial funding rates are not adjusted to offset any increases in the cost of services, utilities, supplies, and labour.
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