Foreign students are not taking up space needed for Canadian students in School District 43, officials say. In fact, the board of education was told Tuesday, they help bolster the district's finances.
The topic has arisen as SD43 grapples with a space crunch that has forced some daycares to close to free up classroom space needed for students and necessitated approximately $1.2 million in renovations.
"We always place international students only when there is room available," superintendent Patricia Gartland said when queried by trustees, adding that there will be no problem accommodating anticipated enrolment of about 2,000 foreign students for the 2017/’18 school year.
But the district has applied to the provincial government for $1.2 million to cover renovations to classrooms, mostly changes to rooms being used for other purposes, needed to meet smaller class size requirements after last year's Supreme Court of Canada decision knocked down provincial legislation dating back to 2002.
SD43's assistant secretary treasurer, Chris Nicolls, told trustees that an inventory has found 70 to 75 classrooms available for students and work has already started on renovating 38 of them.
The district also plans to tweak how it adjusts catchment areas so it can be more flexible to adapt to changing enrolment. But trustees expressed anxiety that the board would be left out of the loop in future decision-making and asked for more discussion on a notice of motion to change district policy at an upcoming meeting.
Trustees were told that the aim of the policy was to be transparent and parties involved — including trustees and the District Parent Advisory Council — would have a say in a change in policy.
Meanwhile, the district is basking in the glow of another anticipated surplus, largely caused by the $15,000 annual fee each foreign student pays.
Nicolls told the board that the finance department is anticipating a budget surplus of between $5.5 million and $7 million at the end of June.
Savings in the snow removal budget, smaller than expected salary hikes for administration and management staff, underspending on substitute teachers and educational assistants because of a shortage of casual staff are among the reasons for the surplus. As well, Nicolls noted that the district didn't have to spend its contingency fund.
Still, there are several weeks left in the school year, Nicolls cautioned, and the surplus can change. "We still half a month and a half of school yet. The year end can be very active."
