January 14, 2009 - Valley Voice Newspaper

20 COMMUNITY
School District #8 struggles to balance budget, looks at resource allocation
by Jan McMurray
At School District #8’s meeting
on Tuesday, January 13, Secretary-
Treasurer Monica Schulte will present
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management’s proposal for a balanced
budget.
“There won’t be any significant
cuts – no layoffs or major rearranging,”
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318 Broadway St. Nakusp, BC 265-3288
she said in a telephone interview. “It’s
just a matter of everyone pulling up
their socks.”
Schulte explained that she was
looking to cut $500,000 from a $5
million budget, which represents a
1% budget cut. “I didn’t want to go to
any one department for that $500,000,
so the cuts are system wide – but it’s
not exactly 1% from every single
account.”
Earlier this year, the final year of
repaying the huge deficit that it amassed
over several years, the district found
itself once again heading for a deficit
situation.
At the November meeting of the
board of education, Secretary-Treasurer
Saturday night entertainment in New Denver was at its best when the Harlem
Crowns came to town to play the Lucerne senior boys basketball team on
January 10. The Crowns’ pranks on the players, referee Kevin Murphy and on
members of the audience had everyone in stitches.
The Valley Voice January 14, 2009
Monica Schulte reported that the district
would have to pay for five teachers more
than what was originally budgeted for
and told the board that there was a need
to look seriously at how resources are
allocated.
At the December board meeting,
Schulte reported that the district would
be $310,000 over budget by the end of
the year if current spending patterns
continued.
The board voted by a narrow margin
to write to the Ministry of Education,
asking if they could pay just 50% of the
last payment on their deficit this year and
pay the remaining 50% next year. The
total amount still owing is $637,000.
This was also the meeting where the
board approved the terms of reference
for a Finance Committee of the Whole
to oversee the financial operations of
the district.
The committee consists of all nine
trustees of the board of education, senior
management and two representatives
from the Kootenay Lake Teachers’
Federation, the Kootenay Lake Principals
and Vice Principals Association, CUPE
Local 748, and Kootenay Lake DPAC.
The nine trustees are the only ones who
can vote.
The committee met twice in
December, and will meet again on
Tuesday, January 13 prior to the board
meeting.
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Jan Mc Murray and Dan Nicholson, Valley Voice co-owners
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