Prairie South School Division has re-approved its 2023-24 budget after receiving nearly $1 million in extra provincial funding, with the new document including almost $16 million for new joint-use school costs.
Trustees approved the amended budget during a special meeting on June 21. They had originally approved next year’s budget during their May meeting, but the Ministry of Education announced new funding for school divisions on June 1.
The ministry provided PSSD with $705,363 for more classroom teachers and support staff and $275,760 for enrolment growth, for a total of $981,123. The enrolment money is contingent upon the division hitting its targets; otherwise, the province would claw back that funding.
The amended budget will see $108,114,020 in revenue, $95,841,724 in expenses, a surplus of $12,272,296, and capital purchases of $19,160,118.
After other income and expenses are included, the division expects an overall cash deficit of $2,619,762.
In comparison, the original budget had revenues of $99.8 million, expenses of $95.9 million, a surplus of $3.9 million and capital purchases of $11.9 million.
The original cash deficit was $5.7 million.
Budget explanation
After trustees passed the budget in May, not only was there the province’s funding announcement afterward, but the ministry also informed the division about extra cash flows for the joint-use school, said Ron Purdy, business superintendent.
The second announcement saw the province award a tender to a contractor to build a new road around the new school. Purdy expected the contractor to complete 20 per cent of the road by Aug. 31 and finish the rest next year.
Purdy then reviewed some changes with the amended budget.
The original document set aside $8.6 million for the new school, but after receiving the cash flow statements, road costs and consultant fees, that number jumped by $7.1 million to $15.7 million.
“So that’s the biggest change in the budget. It’s quite a large number,” he said.
The business superintendent expected the ministry to start sending cash flows for the project slowly and in increments during the first three months of the 2023-24 year (September to November). He then expected that money to increase to $2 million per month.
After the province announced the additional top-up money in early June, all 27 school division CFOs met and discussed how the funding numbers seemed “aggressive,” Purdy continued. Some school divisions were reluctant to include the money since they were not confident they would hit their enrolment targets.
“The ministry was responding to us saying we didn’t have enough funding for growth and they gave us funding for growth, so we really need to put it in the budget,” he pointed out. “That’s not a for-sure number, but it’s there.”
The province could increase or decrease Prairie South’s operating grant in December once the division provides its enrolment data by Sept. 30, Purdy added.
Trustee Crystal Froese said it would be challenging for the division financially if it missed its enrolment target and the ministry reduced the operating grant. That would force the organization to adjust its budget again — which is why having reserves is positive.
“… all of our staff will be hired and in place (by September),” she said. “All the programming will (also) be ongoing, so if we were under and we find out the amount we get in December isn’t what we thought we were going to get, then, of course, we have to top that up because you can’t stop things in the middle of the year.”
Froese added that PSSD’s budget is usually a “living, moving thing” because of how often trustees discuss and amend it.
