EAST CENTRAL — Budget preparations are underway at the Horizon School Division.
Kevin Garinger, the division’s director of education, said it has been told by the provincial government how much grants it will receive next year.
“We feel like the budget will support and sustain what we have and I think that's important for us,” he said. “We'll look more closely at perhaps some opportunities to even expand a couple of our programs that are really critical for meeting the needs of our youth.”
The province has announced on March 18 it will provide $2.6 billion into the education system in 2020-21, compared to $2.5 billion the previous year.
Garinger said the division is behind in creating its budget due to focusing on setting up alternative learning systems for students thanks to the pandemic. The division is in process of working through and preparing some information for its board of education for a special budget-focused meeting on May 13.
The next regular school board meeting is May 20.
Last year saw the school division passed a budget with $84.6 million in revenues and expenses of $85.6 million, leaving a deficit of around $1 million.
