By Greg Nikkel
The Southeast Cornerstone School Division reduced their deficit in the 2016-17 annual financial report, with a number of measures taken to reduce costs, including several adjustments in staffing.
Funding was reduced to school boards by the province, which has been working on plans to restructure and reorganize how school divisions are funded and governed in Saskatchewan, with a request from the government for all school boards to reduce their spending levels.
The 2016-17 fiscal year ended with revenues of $102.6 million and expenses of $104.5 million, for a net deficit of $1.9 million, which was considerably lower than the budgeted deficit of $5.6 million.
A report by deputy director Keith Keating outlined the staffing changes made in an effort to find efficiencies anywhere they could in their operations. After the reductions made in certain positions, Cornerstone now has 516.3 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff members, including 38.81 learning support teachers. There is 28.03 FTE for unassigned time in schools, and 12 FTE unassigned time outside of schools. Support staffing includes 128.46 FTE educational assistants, 21.16 FTE library staff, 45.89 FTE administrative staff, and 123.5 FTE for transportation.
Keating noted that his position as deputy director oversees the superintendent of schools, combined with the manager of human resources, while payroll has been shifted to the chief financial officer, and the superintendent of education will be under the director of education. Reductions were made in various positions, said Keating, such as of an office coordinator, help desk and in payroll, where a staff member had a position reduced from 1.0 FTE to 0.8.
Oversight of facilities and transportation is now managed by one department, with a reduction of one manager, plus there is one less IT consultant. Cornerstone has two ELA consultants, down from three, and a reduction of an English as an Additional Language (EAL) consultant, Keating added.
In the financial report, the total revenue for the year was up by 0.9 per cent or $871,000 from the budgeted amount. Most of the school division’s operating revenue is determined by the provincial funding formula, with the source coming from a combination of education property taxes (set by the province), the provincial grant and some tuition revenue.
The taxation revenue was $981,000 higher than budget, and the operating grant was $3.7 million lower than was budgeted. The lower grant was due to a decrease of $700,000 for enrolment and funding rate reductions made in December, a decrease of $300,000 for the 2016 property tax cash reconciliation from estimate to actual, and a decrease of $2.7 million for an anticipated increase in 2017 property tax revenue due to property reassessments.
Major capital funding was $1.3 million higher than budget, due to the approval in March for the design of the new Pre-K to Grade 6 elementary school for Weyburn with an attached 51-seat day care, to be built on the site of the former Weyburn Junior High school.
Funding for preventative maintenance and renewal was up by $185,000 than budget. Other revenue was higher than budget by $1.6 million, which included a non-cash donation of $1.14 million from the Estevan Summer Games to the Estevan Comprehensive School for a track, equipment and storage building. There was also $208,000 in reimbursement revenue for teacher secondments and an insurance claim, $110,000 from the Workers Compensation Board (which was clawed back on the provincial grant), and $60,000 gain from the disposal of capital assets that had reached the end of their useful lives. These included 16 school buses, 10 vehicles and a variety of furniture and equipment.
Expenses for the year was $2.9 million or 2.7 per cent lower than budget. Salaries and benefits are the school division’s largest expense, comprising 72.6 per cent of total operating expenses, and this was $1.3 million lower than budget, due to the provincial hiring freez and lower than budgeted wage increases.
Goods and services made up 19.6 per cent of the division’s operating expenses, and was $1.7 million under budget, as managers in every area made efforts to reduce spending. Heating fuel was $459,000 under budget due to a warmer winter, and bus fuel was lower by $207,000, with contracted busing lower than budget by $212,000. The audited financial statements were approved by the ministry, and now the statement will go to the provincial comptroller’s office for a final approval.
