Victoria will be providing Powell River with a little less money next year to operate its schools.
School District 47 Board of Education trustees voted to approve the 2013-2014 budget at a recent meeting.
Steve Hopkins, secretary treasurer for School District 47, said there would be a $600,000 decrease in the budget, $300,000 less available from surplus reserves and about $300,000 less, roughly a 1.5 per cent, from declining student enrolment.
Under funding protection, districts with declining enrolments will receive at least 98.5 per cent of the funding they received the year before. This is meant as a way to make progressive funding changes for districts with declining enrolments sustainable both locally and provincially.
Hopkins said he expects about 93 fewer students will enroll next year. The 2013 budget estimates that there will be 1,992 students in the district, down from this year’s 2,085. Based on that, the estimated funding will be $22,101,343.
District officials expect there will be five fewer teachers to make up the difference of the $600,000.
The five fewer teacher positions next year will come through teacher retirements.
“We’ll have 10 principals and vice principals next year, the same as this year,” said Hopkins. “But at 110 FTE [full-time equivalent] teachers, that’s five fewer than the current year and that’s pretty much a function of the 93 fewer students.”
Hopkins estimates that 70 of those 93 students are at Brooks Secondary School.
Support staff funding levels will remain the same for accounting, student busing, building maintenance and libraries.
“Where we’ve had a modest reduction is a part-time secretary’s position at Brooks was reduced,” he said.
Hopkins said that this budget is just an estimate and that the numbers could change in September when they have the actual numbers of students enrolled.
The district received a number of grants for programs it runs outside of the regular operation of schools. The school district received $272,269 from the ministry of education as part of the provincial Learning Improvement Fund, money to support the district’s breakfast and lunch programs for students and for its preschool preparation programs.
