Faced with a $3 million deficit, trustees embark on difficult task of trying to balance the 2008/09 budget
Jessica Kerr, The Delta Optimist
Published: Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Delta school trustees will consider significant staff layoffs next week in an effort to make up a multi-million-dollar shortfall in the 2008/09 budget.
Superintendent Steve Cardwell and secretary treasurer Grant McRadu, who released the proposed budget Monday, said the district is looking at cutting 26 full-time equivalent positions to address a $3.08 million deficit.
"These have been difficult budget considerations," Cardwell said. "However, I am confident that the district has made every effort to ensure that our first priority remains with our classrooms and students to minimize, to the extent possible, reductions on those critical areas. We will continue to provide the best quality education to support the needs of all learners in our community."
The staff cuts will hit both schools and the school board office. Cardwell said more specifics on the positions couldn't be made public at this time.
Cuts will impact a wide range of areas, including administration, custodial, teacher-librarians, clerical and educational assistants.
The deficit, the worst the board has seen in almost a decade, can be attributed to a number of factors, including a loss in government grant funding, a decline in student enrollment and a decrease in the number of international students.
In addition to addressing the budget shortfall for the upcoming year, McRadu said the district is going to have to adjust its fiscal practices. As enrollment has declined the district has continued to operate in the same way it did when the student population was at its height.
Since the late 1990s, the number of students in Delta has decreased from 18,000 to closer to 15,000.
"We need to adjust ... to become a district of 15,000," McRadu said.
These changes will include looking at ways to generate more revenue. Cardwell said the district is looking at attracting more international students from other countries.
"If the Ministry of Education funding continues to fall short of our educational requirements, we will need to increase our revenues or be forced to continue to make difficult budget reductions. This may include having to look at the number of facilities we continue to operate and maintain," McRadu said.
"When almost 90 per cent of our budget is made up of salaries, it is very difficult to make cuts of this size without eliminating positions. We have attempted to keep staff reductions to a minimum."
District officials say the outlook would be even worse if reserve funds weren't available.
"The board has been able to utilize limited reserves as well as revenues from the International Student Program, Continuing Education and other entrepreneurial programs," said board chair Kelly Guichon. "If the board had not been fiscally conservative and set aside reserves in previous years, the cuts to our programs would have been much larger."
The board held a public meeting last night to invite feedback on the proposed budget. A second public meeting is scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. at the board office on Harvest Drive in Ladner.
Trustees will vote on the budget April 29.
