School District No. 46 (SD46) says its top priority is to avoid layoffs, as it looks to cover a $208,000 budget shortfall, resulting from the province's decision to slash its $1-million annual facility grant.
The province announced the cut in late August, after most school districts - SD46 included - had just finished summer maintenance work in schools across the district, school board chair Silas White said. As a result, SD46 had already spent the balance of last year's annual facility grant, before learning that there would be no further facility funding for the 2009/2010 year.
"To lose [the grant] part-way through the fiscal year and after all the necessary facilities work has been completed over the summer using our AFG contingency funds, is debilitating," White wrote in his chair's report presented at the Tuesday, Sept. 8, school board meeting in Gibsons.
With some invoices still outstanding, SD46 is looking at a shortfall, which will have to be made up from other sources. Equally, SD46 will have no funds for any additional maintenance work that comes up during the school year.
White said SD46 will ask the Ministry of Education for permission to use $100,000, which had been earmarked for seismic upgrades, to cover the shortfall. Equally, SD46 will be looking for any possible savings on supplies and day-to-day operations. SD46 will also be looking at its $600,000 contingency fund.
"The challenge now is that extra pressure is put on that money because we no longer have an AFG contingency [fund]," White said.
The school district isn't allowed to run a deficit.
Beyond that, he said, SD46 will petition the province for financial help.
"We need to go to the Minister [of Education] and outline our situation to her and take her up on her comments that any kind of emergency and student safety issues will still be addressed by the ministry," White said, decrying the cut as shortsighted. "The longer we neglect our buildings and all our facilities, the more cost it is going to be in the long run."
Sports cuts
BC School Sport (BCSS), which delivers high school sports and programs across B.C., has lost its entire operating grant of $130,000.
"The irony of the situation is the government continues to promote its goals of healthy and active citizens," BCSS wrote in a press release presented Tuesday night.
White called the cut "heartless."
"We've heard from the Minister of Education already that kids should be encouraged to play and walk and dance [instead of play sports], which doesn't seem to be a very realistic view of the education system on the Sunshine Coast," he said.
PAC funding
Parent Advisory Councils (PAC) have also seen the axe drop on their funding.
PACs, which receive grants through B.C. Gaming, will see their funding cut in half.
"That's another huge impact on our schools, because that money goes straight into our schools," added White.
SD46 also expects to lose $108,000 of anticipated lease money from the Conseil Scolaire Francophone, which rents space from the district.
H1N1 flu
SD46 schools will remain open in the event of a confirmed case of H1N1 flu.
A memorandum to district staff states, "H1N1 is a mild illness and you should recover quickly." It advocates regular hand washing with soap and water.
