‘Status quo’ budget welcomed
Okanagan Skaha School District to add 2 positions after years of cuts
After years of steady budget cuts, the board of the Okanagan Skaha School District is in the enviable position for 2018-19 of actually making some additions.
The draft budget currently out for consultation has also spared the district the avalanche of negative publicity it received in recent years as the board mulled school closures and staff reductions.
“We haven’t had a lot of concerns coming from the budget this year,” confirmed board chairman Bill Bidlake, “unlike the days when we were slashing and the government was changing the rules and we had to lose like $1 million a year out of the budget.”
The proposed 2018-19 operating budget checks in at $57 million, down from $57.5 million this year.
Although it’s down, the missing $500,000 represents surpluses from previous years used to keep the ship afloat this year, making it a “status quo” financial plan, according to secretary-treasurer Bonnie Roller Routley.
The budget does add two full-time equivalent positions — a technician in the IT department and a helping teacher — and contemplate spending $300,000 on new technological devices.
Also of note is that the budget covers unfunded salary increases for school administrators and other exempt staff, plus the new payroll health tax.
Enrolment in the district is projected to decline by only two kids to 5,747, but that would still mark a significant reversal from a low of 5,631 seen in 2014-15.
The budget bylaw is slated to get first two readings at the May 28 board meeting, followed by final adoption at the June 25 session.
It marks the last budget preparation process led by Roller Routley, who’s retiring this summer.