It’s not looking likely that extra money devoted to arts education in last year’s New Westminster school district budget will be found again for 2020/21.
In May 2019, the school board voted to allocate $180,000 in surplus funds to arts education: $60,000 towards a half-time district arts facilitator, $50,000 towards Massey Theatre usage and $70,000 towards supplies and equipment. The money came after a push from parents and teachers to help the district's struggling music programs.
Trustee Mark Gifford raised the issue at the April 28 school board meeting, held online via Webex.
“This has got to be one of the toughest budget pictures to try to manage,” Gifford said, acknowledging the efforts of staff to deal with falling revenues and rising expenses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the tough times, Gifford said he was “hopeful” the school district could consider sustaining at least the staffing portion of the arts education funding.
“Not even a year into that, it would be difficult to see it unravel,” he said, while acknowledging the district has many demands for its money. “I know we’re facing tough budget conversations here, and there are a number of priorities on the table.”
Superintendent Karim Hachlaf said the creation of the fine arts facilitator role has provided “excellent work” but cautioned that all initiatives funded with surplus money are treated as one-time spending, and that at this point staff are not accounting for any of that money in next year’s budget.
“Our ability to sustain that over time has been further challenged with some of the financial pressures,” he said, adding the board will also have some other initiatives to consider in allocating money for the next year.
One that’s at the top of the list is to follow up on an ongoing review of special education that’s still to come in front of the board by the end of the year.
“There will need to be dollars attached to that, and the ability to do everything next year will not be feasible,” he said, adding staff are open to board comments and direction leading into May budget discussions.
Trustee Dee Beattie said she wants to wait for the recommendations that come out of the special education and inclusive practices review before she weighs in on any additional spending.
“I think this is an important piece that we have worked on as well for the past year,” she said, adding it will be important to see those recommendations through.
Trustee Gurveen Dhaliwal also urged caution in moving forward on extra spending.
“Being mindful of how tough of a year this year/next year is going to be, considering COVID and some of the other budget pressures that we have, I really also respect being conservative with our budget until we actually have a strong idea of where we are financially and are more confident in our expenses and how we choose to use them,” she said.
Trustee Danielle Connelly questioned whether trustees would be able to bring the issue forward in May, and Hachlaf assured her they can.
“This conversation is always fluid until the board ultimately passes the final budget,” Hachlaf said. “Given we’ve had a spring break and a pandemic, staff is certainly open to further questions on the surplus initiative. “
Secretary-treasurer Bettina Ketcham sounded a note of caution for the board.
“This is a pretty tight budget for the current year, and what you should not be anticipating, if I might be so bold as to say, is to be putting forward one-time initiatives at this time,” she said, adding that when the superintendent’s recommendations come back to the board for review, they will be focused on efficiencies, not requests.
Hachlaf said that, in the past, when the district has been in a solid financial position and able to fund surplus initiatives, it has looked for the opportunity to “operationalize” those initiatives in subsequent years.
“Looking ahead to next year, this is where that opportunity is limited,” he said. “We have to realize that, given it is a pandemic and (given) these unexpected costs, … this is a year where we are looking for staffing efficiencies. So to maintain some of the one-time surplus initiatives, despite the value that they have brought, becomes a difficult decision for the board.”
The school board is scheduled to consider the budget again at its May 12 meeting.
