The Qualicum School District is looking at declining enrolment figures, increasing costs, declining revenues and a $2.5-million funding deficit.
The board of education recently gave two readings to a $72,124,658 budget, which would mean staff layoffs.
“It has been a hard budget, we know. We have had multiple sessions with publics and stakeholders and senior leaders and the board to come to this,” secretary-treasurer Ron Amos said during the board's May 27 meeting.
The school district's enrolment ended up being 97 full-time equivalent students fewer than estimated, which translates to a smaller preliminary operating grant, according to Amos.
Because the district's enrolment is down by more than 1.5 per cent, the provincial government provides "funding protection", but the district had to absorb approximately $750,000 before that protection kicked in.
“With declining enrolment, we are entering funding protection and we will need to make reductions,” Superintendent Peter Jory said. "I think the system will benefit from a fairly fulsome Band-Aid rip and then getting on with business and being able to deal with all of the work from a more strength based and optimistic perspective.”
He added the situation in the Qualicum School District is similar to trends across the province, and is impacted by inflation, rising costs and the end of COVID-related funding.
The president of the Mount Arrowsmith Teachers' Association, Matt Woods, said the provincial government's “functional budget dystopia” leaves boards to pass budgets that are unable to fully support students.
“This slow erosion of public funding goes unnoticed until finally it can no longer support itself and like the side of a mountain, will eventually collapse,” Woods said, and added the model relies on teachers to purchase resources and “find creative ways to run programs with minimal to no budget allowances”.
MATA and CUPE both stated their organizations do not support the budget as currently presented.
The staff layoffs include teachers, support staff and administration.
Gillian Wilson, associate superintendent of schools, said they included the elimination of the "teaching and learning team", the equivalent of three full-time staff, as well as staff reductions at schools where enrolment is in decline, such as Errington Elementary School.
“We’ve tried really hard to keep it [budget cuts] directly from the classroom,” Wilson said.
She added that although a number of students left the system for an alternative school last fall, some of them have since returned.
“I don’t know if holding this over for another month, if we will find anything that we can change that will substantially change the layoff situation and believe me, I don’t like this," trustee Elaine Young said. "I just don’t see any other way out of it.”
In the past, the district has had the option of dipping into its reserve fund, but those reserves have receded to below the two per cent of budget threshold, according to Amos.
“We don’t have a lot of room in our budget,” he said. “This is our best choice to get out in front of the future declines that is gonna further put burden on the budget deliberations.”
The board will give the budget a third reading at the next regular public meeting, or a special public meeting, which will be determined soon, according to Jory.
The annual budget must be adopted on or before June 30.
