EAST CENTRAL — A challenging budget for the Horizon School Division will see fewer instructional staff members next school year, but also savings thanks to the division's new central office.
The division's board of education passed a budget for the 2019-20 school year at its meeting May 15 that features $84.6 million in revenues, an increase of almost $240,000, and expenses of $85.6 million, an increase of around $153,000. There will be a $1 million deficit.
Since the division now owns a central office instead of renting space, it has saved $180,000, reducing administration costs to almost $3.5 million.
The division will spend $58.5 million on instruction, a reduction of $269,000. There will be no layoffs. The reduction will be achieved by not replacing staff who retire or otherwise resign, and by transferring teachers.
The division said it will still have one of the lowest pupil-teacher ratios in the province.
"This has been another challenging year, but our staff and board have worked hard to stretch our funding dollars as far as they will reach," said Jim Hack, the division's board chair, in a media release. "We are committed to supporting Horizon's strategic plan, our classrooms, and our school communities."
Much of the division's budget challenges comes from the fact the provincial government’s grant increase doesn’t match the cost of new expenses.
The division received an extra $141,000 to use as it saw fit, and an extra $285,000 that can only been used for preventive maintenance.
New expenses include paying for teachers as they move up the salary grid, paying teachers’ fees for the Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board, the carbon tax, and inflation, which would have cost $1.3 million if the division kept the status quo from 2018-19.
The division has $2.2 million in the budget for capital investments, which includes replacing three of its oldest school buses, additional technology investments, and new classroom equipment and furniture.
