The New Westminster school district is looking at more than $2.69 million in unfunded cost pressures next year and wants the public to weigh in on where it should cut to offset the hefty shortfall.
Senior staff and trustees Casey Cook and Jonina Campbell met with local reporters to talk about the budget dilemma for next year, including increased costs for utilities, CUPE raises, pay hikes for teachers, as well as a goal to boost technology spending and to “replenish” spending on supplies, which have been continually cut over the years as a way for the district to deal with ongoing budget troubles.
“We see this as a restorative budget,” Campbell said, summing up the district’s bid to get spending on track for next year.
The district is holding a series of public consultations to hear from stakeholders on where they think the cuts should – or shouldn’t – take place. The public consultation process will be “organic,” Cook said, adding that the district will discuss how to become “more effective, more efficient.”
“Where we are today is not going to be the same place as we are at the end of the consultation,” Cook said. “This budget isn’t just about cuts, it’s about putting the money where it needs to be.”
Recently hired superintendent John Gaiptman said the district is looking into every program and even staffing when it comes to trimming $2.69 million from the district’s approximately $61-million budget.
“Everything is on the table, and everything is going to have to be discussed,” he warned.
Last year, the district cut about eight per cent of its workforce to offset a shortfall in this year’s budget, and it still owes $5 million to the province for previous budget shortfalls.
Gaiptman has encouraged public engagement since he joined the district earlier this year. He expects that once the public weighs in at two meetings planned for budget talks – the first was held April 1 at city hall; the second is set for Wednesday, April 9 at the NWSS library at 7 p.m. – the district will share staff’s proposed changes to the budget for next year with the public on Wednesday, April 16 at 7 p.m. at the NWSS library. There will be two more public budget meetings afterward as well.
The board will “have a good debate in front of the public,” Gaiptman said.
Gaiptman hopes there is a good turnout for the upcoming public budget meetings. Listening to public input is a “really important aspect of what elected officials do before they make these decisions,” he said.
To see the timeline for the public meetings, visit district.sd40.bc.ca.
