A budget update from the New Westminster school district indicates the district is on track with its finances for this school year, but it is still on the hook to pay back almost $5 million to the Ministry of Education.
Staff presented a budget at the Feb. 25 school board meeting that shows the district is just $21,500 short on its $62-million dollar budget, but secretary-treasurer Al Balanuik told The Record the books will balance when the district adds up the final numbers in the spring.
"The amended annual budget was not a surprise to me," Balanuik said. "We had projected conservatively. We expected additional revenue. We also expected additional expenses, and we budgeted accordingly."
This year's budget doesn't account for the funds the district must pay back to the province - the district is slated to start making payments on that debt next year.
As for this year, the district's budget is trending "positively," and Balanuik said he expects the budget will come in balanced by the end of the school year.
Balanuik and Sheldon Lee, the district's director of business operations, went through the budget with trustees on Tuesday's meeting.
During the presentation, trustees James Janzen and Michael Ewen questioned why teaching costs had gone up despite cutting 19.4 teachers.
"Speaking as a trustee, it's frustrating when you cut all of these people ... it just leaves you with the inevitable conclusion that we are going to have to cut more people," Janzen said.
Balanuik said the cost escalation for teachers is due to incremental salary increases and category increases (when a teacher upgrades their skills they earn more pay).
Trustees MaryAnn Mortenson and Casey Cook also questioned discrepancies between the projected budget and the amended budget.
To address questions, Lee went through it line by line, to help provide clarity on the budget, which ultimately passed with Ewen and Janzen voting in favour of first reading, but not the final reading of the amended budget bylaw.
Ewen said he didn't receive the amended budget with enough time before Tuesday's vote.
The board is required by law to pass the amended budget bylaw for this school year by the end of the month. If the board didn't pass the amended budget on Tuesday night, it would have to hold another public meeting and vote by the weekend.
