The proposed 2020-21 budget for Prairie South School Division provoked passionate debate among board trustees, with some arguing it meets most needs while others argued it doesn’t do enough.
Division administration presented the proposed 2020-21 budget to board trustees during their most recent meeting. A one-page report indicated Prairie South School Division (PSSD) expects revenues of $85.2 million and expenses of $89 million, along with $2.4 million in capital expenses.
The board voted 7-3 to accept the budget, with trustees Shawn Davidson, Al Kessler, Darcy Pryor, Giselle Wilson, Lew Young, Mary Jukes and Robert Bachmann in favour. Opposed were trustees Tim McLeod, Jan Radwanski and Brian Swanson.
Also, trustees voted unanimously to allow division administration to re-designate $1.45 million for classroom composition mitigation instead of tangible capital asset expenses.
Hold your horses
“It’s a budget, folks. It’s not carved in stone,” said Davidson.
The budget is the best guess of the board and division administration; it could be out of wack for next year, he continued. Students could return Sept. 1, a coronavirus outbreak could occur, and then school divisions would have to move online by Oct. 1.
Trustees should pass the budget so division administration can implement it, Davidson continued. There could be significant variations that the board will have to address, which could force trustees to pass further motions about expenses and revenues.
“One of the big (outcomes) learned through the pandemic is being nimble is a lesson we need to learn,” he said. “And the 2020-21 school year, we’re all going to become acutely aware that we need to be nimble and make changes on the fly.”
While the budget projects a deficit of $3.8 million, the division will spend more to maintain school buildings, including installing new windows and doors in schools that need them, Davidson continued. Furthermore, the board has operating reserves that other divisions don’t that trustees can use to address classroom complexity.
“We have prudently managed our surplus funds … . This budget is fair and reasonable for students of Prairie South,” he added.
Band-Aid solutions
This is a difficult budget and trustees can’t do as much as they would like because they didn’t receive a meaningful increase for next year, said McLeod. Trustees could do more and increase the deficit, but he would oppose that. They are doing their best for students and families, even if they don’t agree on how to do that or what to prioritize.
He commended division administration for attempting to balance the board’s various opinions while crafting a palatable budget.
“That being said, it’s my personal view that this budget doesn’t go far enough to address the classroom complexity issues that our staff and students face,” McLeod added. “I believe we are applying a Band-Aid where surgery is required.”
Less funding to schools
It’s unfortunate that the division office plans to reduce the amount of decentralized funding it provides to schools, money that they use to address their needs, said Swanson. He asked education director Tony Baldwin to clarify the situation.
In 2017 the division distributed $3.3 million in decentralized funding but reduced that to $3 million the year after, Baldwin said. Next year the division plans to distribute $2.4 million in such funding, which is a decrease of $600,000. However, there is $750,000 in carryover to next year since some schools did not spend their entire amount.
The amount of available decentralized funding can affect the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) and classroom complexity, said Swanson. PSSD supposedly has one of the lowest PTRs in the province, but based on the numbers of division staff, 70 per cent are dedicated to the classroom in some way and 30 per cent are not.
“Issues that arise from classroom complexity could be mitigated by small classer size, which we could accomplish by having less teachers outside the classroom and having more classrooms,” he continued, noting it’s easier for teachers to deal with 18 students than 26.
“We are putting a Band-Aid to something that requires a paradigm change. We have the financial resources and legislative authority to deal with this differently than we do now.”
Listen to the ratepayers
The reduction in funding for school divisions has become worse over the years, said Young. The provincial government is providing $85 million for next year with an increase of only $50,000, which doesn’t go too far.
Young was part of this year’s budget discussions and heard many comments from his fellow trustees, he pointed out. He hoped that division administration listened to what trustees said and stopped to think of how they could spend money differently, especially since trustees represent the ratepayers and division employees.
Follow the board’s will
What trustees are doing is debating a road map that financially describes their priorities and how they want administration to implement them, said Baldwin. The budget is his best attempt to respond to those priorities and interpret their will.
The board — as elected members — is responsible for providing direction to division administration through resolutions, countered Swanson.
“It’s a quagmire — and unfair expectation — that the director’s job is to interpret the will of the board. That will lead to nothing but problems,” he added.
When the board is in agreement, it’s easy to interpret the will of the board, said Baldwin. It’s more challenging to do that when the board is not of one mind. That’s why trustees authorized him to act on their behalf.
“Until such time as this board changes that decision,” he added, “that’s what I do for a living.”
