Too early to say what admin savings will be used for, superintendent

It’s too soon to say how the school district will use the administrative savings the province is returning to districts at the end of May, according to New Westminster superintendent Pat Duncan.

The funds were part of a mandatory administrative savings plan imposed on districts across the province. Last year, the provincial government announced that together, districts would have to cut $54 million in administrative savings from their budgets – $29 million for the 2015/16 school year and $25 million for 2016/17.

But late last month, the government announced districts would be able to keep the savings from the 2016/17 school year. For New Westminster’s school district, that amounts to $295,560.

As part of the announcement, the province is allowing districts to use the funds as they see fit, be it for teachers, new programs, equipment or whatever they choose, noted a press release.

“It’s too early to tell and even the details of it (the announcement) were sketchy,” Duncan told the Record.

“Will we use it? Absolutely, we’ll use it. We’ll put it to good use,” he added.

Because New Westminster is smaller district, it didn’t get nearly as much as larger districts like Surrey and Burnaby, whose contributions to the $25 million savings fund were in the millions, but $295,560 can go a long way, Duncan said.

“When you look at that, that’s three teachers, six CUPE employees, when you break it down,” he said. “I’d like to keep it as close to the kids as possible, so we’ll have to look where the hotspots are.”