~ Kevin Woodley aan
Peninsula News Review ;

It came late, but for the Saanic
School District and its projected
$255,000 budget deficit, late is better
than never.

The $39-million funding an-
nouncement from the provincial
government came less than 24

> hours after the Saanich School
. Board approved a request to run a
. deficit for the 1998-99 year.
:, . According to a Ministry of Edu-
cation release, the new money for

= B.C’s education system willallowa -

continuation of the province’s plan
to hire 300 more teachers and re-

~ duce class sizes in the critical early
years of school. -
“We are building on our achieve-
ments from last year and investing
in the future of our students and our
province,” said B.C. Premier Glen
Clark. The new funding brings per-

levels experienced in B.C. during
“the 1992-93 schoolyear.
And while the funding announce-

ment is being applauded by many .
around the province as a good step.

~> others are waiting for a district-by-

are expected to apply to the min-

istry for budget deficits than ever
before, the increase of provincial. -
_ money is seen by many as essential ”

funding. :

 paetwianeT he impact of the new. $39 million:

in government ‘money won't be

pect to receive..

fi gure slightly

district breakdown before popping —
any champagne corks. In an acade- —
mic year when more B.C. schools.

~ Jgnown until Saanich is given a bet-
“ter idea of how much they can ex- ”

Chair Lorraine Borstad

“We will be working diligently
to get to a zero budget in
1999-2600.”

- Saanich school district T reasurer
Joan Axford said they are expecting

~.a couple of hundred thousand dol-
pupil funding up from $5,849 to.
$5,992, a number similar to funding

lars from the announcement but the

money won't help alleviate the cur-

rent deficit problem. .
“We see that it won't help us with

- the deficit mainly because the ma
jority of it goes to the provincial col -
“lective agreement initiatives and the

provincial learning network.”

~ “There will be very little left for
meeting the increasing costs we see

each year,” she continued. - .

~~ Axford said the Saanich school _
- district is still facing the same bud-
get problems they addressed at re-

cent meetings.

esul
pro

cial. government,” said

gofarenough = :

_. “T believe more could be done . % rg naa
and still not have a direct impact on. - end of February.
-- children,” said Patti Sollars at the _
~ Feb. 24 budget meeting where the
- budget received first?and secon

“The buidget cuts and deficit area
ult..of underfunding by the,

cial funding announcement.
In Saanich, the announcement

~ follows School Board approval of a

request to the education ministry to
run a $255,000 deficit for the soon-
to-be-completed 1998-99 school

year. It marks the first time in his-
tory that Saanich School District 63.

has run an operating deficit.

For a district with a January
deficit projected at $930,000, the
new figure of $255,000 represents a
substantial effort towards reducing
expenditures.

“We've cut as far as we can with-
out starting to feel it in the class-
room,” trustee Ellen Slanina told the
board. “Several other districts are
facing the same situation as us.”

Slanina pointed to Powell River as
one other area where the deficit has
become a problem this year.

“They are one-third our size but
have a bigger deficit,” she said.

The board also passed a motion
requesting staff to develop a pro-
posed operating budget for the up-
‘coming 1999-2000 school year that
pays off the requested deficit and
eliminates an additional $920,000 in

~ expenditures to allow for a balanced
. budget nextyear.
_~ For.three of the School Board's -

trustees, the deficit reduction didn’t

ed Sollars, along. with trustees Jim:

 yieh School Board. Chair. Lor- « WOOMotG ane ae et voted

-raine Borstad in a release sent out -
less than 12 hours before the provin-_

Trustee Jim Woolford

“ first time looking at a
deficit !’m not sure that I’ve
done everything.”

passed by a 43 count, but because
the budget did not receive unani-
mous School Board approval, the
third and final readings had to be de--
layed until the following night. The

~ final two readings were passed at a

Feb. 25 meeting.
“To me this is paper work. re-

_ quired by the government,” said

trustee Derek Chow at the first.
“meeting. Chow referred to the fact
_ the School Board is required by law.
‘to submit a finalized budget to the

- provincial education ministry by the -

“TY don’t want it [deficit] either, but me
$255,000 out of a $53,000,000 budget -
is not bad,” said Chow. He. also

inted'to underfunding as a chief
ontributing factor and ‘said more

“ "Delaying things won't solve the

“steps will be taken towards reduc-
eee hs proposed budget and ap: ~ Lon buwecn now ane {ihe endl of the
plication to: run a deficit. Bo th school, and budget, year.

ure Savi

problem,” said Chow of the divided

votes. :

“It should have been a formality,”
said Borstad. “It's ironic that we will
now have the additional cost of an-
other meeting to pass a formality.”

Woolford, Fea and Sollars didn’t
see it as a formality.

“What worries me is that we don't
address this problem,” said Wool-
ford. “We're not working together.
There’s no give and pull action on
this board.”

Woolford again pointed to the use
of cellular phones as an area where
the district could increase savings.

“Cell phones may be small in-
some trustees eyes, but it’s a sign
we're working towards a balanced
budget,” he said. “I’m not giving up.
The status quo isn’t good enough
for me.” :

Borstad said the deficit wasn't a
status quo item in Saanich, pointing
to the district’s continuous record of

balanced budgets. “I view this asa.
one time blip brought on by the ac-

tions of the provincial government,”

she said. ORES
The biggest budget hit came in
July, 1998, when the provincial gov-

-a new: teachers contract that in-

~ creased the amount of teachers in.’
the district and helped reduce class.

~ size.

_ then that we would be forced into a_
deficit,” said Borstad. =

“We didn’t want tose staff lai
off or children moved

sions lastsummer.-

ernment legislated compliance with

“We voted in July to staffto the ~~
contract levels and it was known

& "ct d-to schools
* down the road in mid-stream,” said .
-« Slanina of the original budget deci-.

change.

But where that change should originate
from has become a point of division among
members of the current. school board, And

_ and deeply in what they propose as poten-
tial solutions. ©
Trustees Jim Woolford, Patti Sollars and

cost savings can be achieved without af-
fecting levels of education in the district,
As the budget and its implied deficit
were being discussed at the board's Feb,
24 budget meeting, the trio continued to
point toward cellular telephones, leased ve-
hicles and the Assistant Superintendent
position as areas where potential savings
existed. 0

{o, the

w. 98 Olds

pesetivinar ea nninl ta one be wt

ork

ye

“say they want me to speak for them and
~ they've told me they want a balanced bud-

get,” Sollars told the budget meeting.”
- “That’s why I've voted against a deficit po-

sition.” © :

it's clear that both sides believe honestly -

Sheila Fea are still adamant that additional :

feth t

inmtrig
* $21,900.00

Other trustees echoed their distaste for:

- the deficit position but disagreed about the

desires of the public.

Trustee Ellen Slanina said she had at- -

tended every budget committee meeting

and every meeting where public input was .

sought out,

“Never once did I hear anyone tell me
‘get this thing down to zero. period,’ They
all pointed in a direction towards main-
taining service levels,” said Slanina.

Woolford and Sollars both pointed again
to the earlier filling of a vacant Assistant
Superintendent position as something that

- flew in the face of saving money, especially
when that new position included, like the

~ other five executive positions, a leased ve

hicle. ;
“My confidence was sunk when the As
“sistant Superintendent position was filled,”
said Fea, :
* Slanina

aa ai

pointed the important role in

Stl

f yan

ue

tions as reasons to keep the position filled.
_ “We've already reduced the consultant
_ positions by nine. In that time, the. work
~Joad has increased by 20 per cent [new stu-

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maintaining service levels and to the con-

tinued decrease in district consultant posi-

dents],” said Slanina. ee

“Al of the suggestions were followed : '

through and at the end of the day none re-"

sulted in significant savings,” said board...
chair Lorraine Borstad of proposed sav-
ings alternatives that include leased vehi-

cles and reduced cellular telephone con: |
tracts. PAS te '
~The biggest problem with eliminating

leased vehicles appears to be the fact they

are apart of the executive salary structure,
With the executive all on continuing con-
tracts, eliminating the vehicles would
mean having to compensate the senior ad-
ministrators directly through salary.

The senior staff would also receive a

~ mileage allowance on their personal vehi-
eles,

i's a combination that Borstad’ said

leads to more budget loss, not the suge

gested savings desired by Woolford.

? ia 74,500 kin's
14,900.00 "

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