Victoria schools budget in black

• Process went ‘pretty smooth’ as region’s largest district shows $2.9-million surplus • Saanich and Sooke jurisdictions see no major obstacles to balancing their budgets

The Greater Victoria school district, the region’s largest with about 20,000 students, has an overall budget of $236,999,264 for 2018-19.

“It was pretty smooth,” Tom Ferris, the board’s vice-chairman, said of the approval process. “There had been a lot of discussion about it so there wasn’t that much for us to really debate.”

Measures were taken to ensure the budget would be balanced, Ferris said.

“We brought some one-time savings from last year and also a bit of money that had come into the district over the year.”

There will be a surplus of about $2.9 million, said district secretary-treasurer Mark Walsh.

Among the budget highlights are the preservation of professional-learning support funds at schools. Ferris said those funds are available to teachers and other groups.

Also being affirmed is the “technology for learning” strategy, which ensures that equipment used in the district can be replaced and maintained.

Along with that, $100,000 is being moved to the Childcare Capital Reserve to support existing child-care spaces in the district with facility upgrades as needed. The money is coming via revenues from the child-care providers themselves.

In the Saanich school district, home to about 8,000 students, the end of budget deliberations is approaching.

“I would expect that the budget would be approved in May,” said secretary-treasurer Jason Reid. “We have a special budget meeting scheduled for May 7.”

Final approval is anticipated to come on May 16, Reid said.

“This year we’re not proposing any reductions to balance,” he said. “We don’t think it will be necessary.

“We are drawing down some accumulated surplus to balance the budget.”

Last year, Saanich school board trustees voted to put off their budget vote for a time because they were facing a $953,000 deficit following a $984,000 shortfall in 2016.

Trustee Jason Price even suggested waiting until the fall, although school boards are required to pass balanced budgets by June 30 each year.

Failure to do so can lead to a board being fired by the education minister.

The district had an overall budget for 2017-18 of $93,518,256.

In the 10,000-student Sooke school district, the 2018-19 budget will likely have its second and third reading on May 8 before receiving final approval on May 22.

Superintendent Jim Cambridge said the budget does not pose any big problems.

“It looks like a status quo budget moving from this year to next.”

The overall budget for 2017-18 was $131,167,452.

“It’s the last year of this [provincial] funding formula, so we’ll see what the future brings,” Cambridge said.