School District 57’s current draft budget for the 2025-26 school year projects an operating fund surplus of just over $300,000, but many of the elements are still up in the air as the board starts soliciting public feedback.
The district’s board of education received a presentation on the draft budget at its Tuesday, April 8 meeting.
As it stood on April 8, the 2025-26 draft budget projected an operating fund of around $180.3 million representing 85 per cent of the total budget, a special purpose fund of around $21.83 million representing around 10 per cent of the total budget and a capital budget of around $10 million, representing around five per cent of the total budget.
Items under the special purpose fund represent grants received for specific purposes and cannot be reallocated. The capital fund represents grants received for new schools, building upgrades and equipment purchases.
The bulk of the division’s expected revenue, around $177.8 million, comes from grants from the Ministry of Education and Child Care with another $215,180 coming from other provincial sources.
The district also projects around $1.2 million in “other revenue,” $960,000 from building rentals and leases, $670,000 from investment income and tuition fees worth around $94,000.
Total projected operating revenues are projected at just under $181 million.
Most of the division’s projected expenses come from salaries, projected to be around $128.3 million, and benefits, with projected costs of around $30.8 million.
Teachers make up 52 per cent of salaries expenses, with substitutes making up four per cent, principals and vice-principals at eight per cent, other professionals at seven per cent, support staff at 11 per cent and education assistants at 18 per cent.
The rest of the operating expenses, which are for services and supplies, are pegged around $21 million. Total operating expenses are projected to be around $180.15 million.
The largest component of these other expenses is for student transportation, worth 26 per cent of the services and supplies category.
The current projected surplus for 2025-26 is $301,539, though that could still change.
Director of finance Hannah Brown explained to trustees that the budget does account for projected revenues from the Ministry of Education announced in March, projected enrolment and staffing levels, the closure of the Central Interior Distance Education School next January.
Brown said the operating grant for the next school year has increased by about $1.5 million from this year, mainly due to an increased number of students with special needs. The closure of the distance education program will come with a drop in enrolment funding.
However, the budget still has operating costs for Giscome Elementary included as the board has yet to decide whether the school will close. The draft also does not include salary increases for unionized employees as collective bargaining is still in progress.
Two special board meetings are scheduled to discuss that school’s closure. The first is on Wednesday, April 18, where district staff will present the results of public consultation on the closure. Then, the final decision will be made at a special meeting on Tuesday, April 22.
Supt. Jameel Aziz said the closure of the school would likely mean savings of around $325,000 in the 2025-26 budget and around $150,000 in subsequent years.
Secretary-treasurer Linda Minnabarriet said that this year is quite a bit different from previous years as the projected surplus means the board does not need to consider significant budget reductions.
However, she said there are still several service enhancements the board can choose to add to the budget.
Those potential enhancements include a 0.5 full-time equivalent position for a vice-principal of curriculum and innovation ($84,000), a full-time equivalent teaching position that would be the district lead for technology in learning ($152,000) and a full-time equivalent leadership position in the Indigenous education department ($200,000).
It could also include $14,000 to add interview scheduling software subscriptions for the human resources department, $150,000 for interior painting in district buildings and $50,000 for asphalt repair.
A copy of the budget presentation was scheduled to be posted on the school district’s website on April 9 as well as a survey where residents can give their feedback on the proposed budget.
That survey will be open for responses until April 22. Then, on April 29, the board is holding a Committee of the Whole meeting where it will discuss public feedback.
The 2025-26 budget bylaw will be discussed at the May 13 regular board meeting. That meeting will be held in the library of Mackenzie Secondary School starting at 4 p.m.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, board chair Craig Brennan said that if there are still outstanding items, final approval of the budget could be pushed to the June 10 board meeting.
He said that this is his third budget cycle as a trustee. The first cycle, he said, was very difficult. The second was still challenging, but better. This year, he said, is the first where he felt like everything was clear and better understood.
After making some hard decisions in previous years, Brennan said that work has allowed the district to be nimbler and more adaptive.
With about a year and a half left in the board’s current term, the chair said that much of their work will start to focus on reviewing and developing policies and administrative procedures to pave the way for a smooth transition process to the next board.
Also discussed at the April 8 meeting was the division’s capital plan for 2025-26. A letter from the Ministry of Infrastructure presented at the meeting stated that the division had two minor capital projects approved: $650,000 and $625,000 respectively for HVAC system upgrades at Beaverly Elementary and École College Heights Elementary.
The letter noted that due to things like school fires, unprecedented enrolment growth and a challenging fiscal environment, the province had a limited ability to advance major capital projects.
In June 2024, the SD57 board approved $247,720,557 worth of major capital plan applications to the provincial government.
That included the addition of four classrooms, a daycare and a multipurpose room at three schools: Edgewood Elementary at an estimated cost of around $8.6 million, Malaspina Elementary at a cost of around $9.1 million and at Springwood Elementary at a cost of around $10.6 million.
Two options to address capacity issues at D.P. Todd Secondary were also proposed: an addition increasing capacity from 600 to 900 students at the existing building for a cost of around $88.5 million and a total replacement of the school with capacity for 900 students worth around $131 million.
Brennan said he had a conversation with the Ministry of Infrastructure, which brought up the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and countervailing tariffs imposed by Canada in response numerous times.
“They were very much, you know, ‘put the brakes on, we’re not sure what it’s going to look like, so lower your expectations and we’re going to let you know what we’re actually able to do,’” Brennan said. “The tone of that call was not overly encouraging, because … we’re not exactly sure what the future is going to look like.”
However, he said he was grateful for the two projects that did get approved.
Early on April 1, BC eliminated its consumer-facing carbon tax. Brennan said the district did not yet know the budgetary impact that would have on its fuel and heating bills for either the rest of this school year or next school year.
