From Naomi Johnson,
Chief Superintendent of Schools:
"Our organization is grappling with the impact of the provincial budget
announced on March 7. As we have reported to you before, the provincial budget
means our system will have the same revenue next year as we had this year. This
happens when we expect to welcome 3,000 more students and our costs will be
increasing. It is the tip of a very difficult iceberg.
For more than a month, we have been crunching numbers, evaluating services
and reviewing options to achieve our objectives. Student success and safety are
our top priorities. The approach we are taking to the budget focuses on
maximizing the budget directed to classrooms while balancing the budget.
On Tuesday, we will present the budget assumptions report to the Board of
Trustees. It will be available online today. This report sets out the decisions,
uncertainties and strategies that we propose to achieve the objectives set out
in the Three-Year Education Plan.
Before the report is published, there are some messages I would like to
emphasize in advance.
To put students, classrooms and schools first, we have looked everywhere in
our system to be more efficient and make cuts. There will be a significant
impact on administration and central services provided to schools and areas.
The resource allocation method (RAM)—the budget distributed to schools—will
increase by two per cent across the system. We estimate this is about 2.1 per
cent less than schools need to keep up with increasing costs and enrolment. We
reviewed some of the high-level figures and implications with principals and
system leaders on April 10.
The budget assumptions report also proposes $5 million of cuts to
administration. This equates to a 12.5-per-cent reduction compared to the
current year. We have taken this decision to maximize dollars to classrooms and
advance student learning. Students remain our top priority. However, the impact
of our financial situation will be felt system-wide.
Two years ago we faced a $61.7-million shortfall once we worked through the
full impact of the provincial budget. To balance our budget we made significant
changes, redesigned central services and said goodbye to good people. This year,
all told, we face a shortfall of $62 million. Cutting deeply again will be even
more painful. Once again we will lose good people.
The Board of Trustees discussion about the budget assumptions report Tuesday
will provide guidance for us to go forward and build the detailed budget. The
detailed budget is scheduled to be debated at a public meeting on May 28. To
build the detail, we will need to make specific decisions about programs,
services and positions.
At the same time, we will be distributing the resource allocation method
(RAM) to principals to plan their schools’ budgets for 2013-14. We have worked
very hard to maximize the RAM; principals will be challenged in the coming
weeks.
For many of you, I appreciate that providing some information will only
increase the demand for more information. We will continue to provide updates.
In the meantime, I encourage you to read the budget assumptions report when it
is published. It will give you a more complete understanding of the challenge
before us and how we propose to face it."
