Has School District 43 turned the corner on its finances?
That's the question in the wake of news this week that the cash-strapped district - which cut $13.4 million in the spring to balance its budget for this school year - ended 2013/'14 in June with a balanced budget, albeit a knife-edged result that was further plumped up with strike savings.
The district had been predicting a balanced budget with a "bias" towards a small deficit, according to secretary treasurer Mark Ferrari, but when the year ended with rotating teacher strikes and a full-scale walkout, more than $6 million was left in the coffers, according to audited financial statements from the year end.
Those strike savings muddy the picture and it's difficult to ascertain how well the district would have done without the work-stoppage. But Ferrari told the board of education at its meeting Tuesday that SD43 would have ended the year with a balanced budget even without the teachers' strike.
As for the $6-million surplus recorded in the financial statements, it's too soon to uncork the champagne as that money wasn't around for very long. Some of it will be used to cover deferred costs from the last school year, such as money for targeted programs including aboriginal education, as well as EI and CPP and school supplies that were deferred.
$2 MILLION REMAINING
Ferrari told the board that what's left is about $2 million, or 0.6% of SD43's operating budget. Some of this money will be used to cover revenue losses during September's work stoppage, such as rental fees of about $10,000 per day, and about $500,000 in losses due to the cancellation of summer school.
The district also doesn't know how much of the strike savings - if any - it will get to keep. Approximately 20% of June's strike savings can be retained by the board but the province wants back all the money saved in September.
In a letter to districts Sept. 12, the province said it wants a tally on strike savings and losses but is willing to work out deals with cash-strapped districts on a case-by-case basis.
"It's a little bit unclear as to how this will work out," Ferrari told the board, adding that the finance department is still tallying up the numbers for an Oct. 17 report to the province.
$40 PARENT PAYOUT CRITICIZED
Meanwhile, trustees are taking aim at the province's Temporary Education Support for Parents, a $40-a-day payment to parents of children 12 and under to cover daycare costs during the strike. They are calling for a letter to be sent to the premier listing their concerns.
"We recognized their [parents'] hardship," said Port Coquitlam Trustee Judy Shirra, "but that money belongs back in the classroom."
Coquitlam Trustee Gerri Wallis also complained the payment plan was decided without talking to school boards first. "We heard about it when the public heard about it," she said.
The board also plans to raise the issue of chronic underfunding because of an outdated financial formula., according to a press release sent out today.
In its statement, SD43 acknowledged it managed to balance its budget last year but argued the public still needs to focus on the formula that "perennially disadvantages the Coquitlam school district and, by extension, our students."
