Living Sky School Division trustees got their first sense of how grim the financial picture is for the division in the wake of the provincial budget in March.
Director of Education Dave Hutchinson and Chief Financial Officer Lonny Darroch presented the proposed 2017-18 budget to the board Wednesday afternoon.
The budget, which is a recommendation to the board at this stage, painted a grim picture, as the board must deal with a deficit for 2017-18 of just over $6 million.
That includes not only the $2,860,468 “structural” deficit coming into this year, but also another $3,224,705 reduction for 2017-18.
The latter number results from a 4.6 per cent reduction in operating funding from the province to the school division from the provincial budget.
Hutchinson participated in the Wednesday board meeting by conference call as he had been meeting with the education ministry that day.
He called this “the most difficult budget I have had to try to find a way to balance in my career.”
He also said this was just the start of the budget changes to the school division. Hutchinson pointed to a “phase two” where a provincial committee will be looking at the standardization of senior staff and wage structure of school divisions. That is likely to mean more potential reductions.
Then there is what Hutchinson described as phase three: a 3.5 per cent wage rollback that the provincial government has targeted for next year.
That would be over and above addressing the $6 million deficit, which Hutchinson indicated was the immediate priority.
“We’re dealing with this challenge tonight,” Hutchinson told the board. “And this is the beginning of the conversation for this challenge that is coming down the road that we have to be aware of.”
To deal with the $6 million hole, Hutchinson outlined a number of budget options that include potential staff and service/transportation reductions.
The proposed staffing reductions total 58.6 positions throughout the division for a total of $3,678,000.
Those include a reduction of 20 educational assistant (EA) positions and 15 teachers. The division believes those EA and teacher reductions will be achieved through attrition. A small number of positions that are currently vacant are also included in the reduction.
Also among the cuts proposed are four teacher’s aid positions and 4.6 caretaker positions. Also included is a proposal to reduce the number of consultant positions from nine down to three. Hutchinson is recommending, however, the First Nations and Métis Education Co-ordinator position remain, due to the large number of First Nations and Métis students in thesystem.
Staff members in the positions that could be reduced have been contacted directly.
Also proposed are non-staff reductions totaling $2,011,000. Those options include $250,000 in reductions to teacher professional development, work-related meetings and extracurricular subs: going down to one EA PD support day; reconfiguring the student award and staff appreciation events; eliminating the extra transportation above and beyond the policy guidelines for Battleford, Unity and Kerrobert: changing the walk distance in North Battleford from .75 to 1.0 kilometre; and cutting division support for “special events” transportation.
There are also reductions to other areas proposed including academic supplies and school-based PD carry over, as well as technology supplies.
Overall, the division is looking at resolving the $6 million deficit through a reduction of $3,528,437 in staff postions, $1,208,648 in non-staff positions and then using reserves of $1,348,087 million to cushion the shortfall.
It should be stressed, however, that these are just options for the board at this stage.
Nothing has been finalized or approved by the board, as this is just the beginning of the budget process. The school division indicates it is also welcoming feedback from the public as the budget process unfolds.
Despite the situation Living Sky faces financially, Hutchinson reassured board members that maintaining student learning priorities was still their goal. The division will be maintaining its focus on the Education Sector Strategic Plan, and to ensure resources are available for priority areas including assessment and reporting, support for student well-being and promoting equity and supporting diversity.
