School District 43 will have about $5 million more to spend next year in operating grants but the cash infusion will go to full-day kindergarten, not extra programs.
The budget details came during a conference call today (Friday) with the Ministry of Education.
Tri-City public school enrolment is expected to increase by about 603 full-time equivalent (FTE) students in September and all but 76 will be five-year-olds who will be attend kindergarten for a full day.
SD43 secretary treasurer Rick Humphreys said the increase amounts to $44 more per student, with total per-student grants in the district averaging out to $6,764.
"It's a status quo budget," Humphreys said, noting an announcement Friday from the Ministry of Education is important because budget talks for 2011/'12 are about to start, with meetings on the topic planned weekly in April.
Board chair Melissa Hyndes said the district is in the middle of analysing the information from the ministry.
"This announcement is the go-ahead for our budget deliberations," Hyndes said, noting that the grant is good news.
"It could be worse," said the Port Moody trustee. "We're going to remain optimistic. But it's a status quo budget and we have some specific decisions to be making in the next month."
The total education grant will be $240.1 million, up from $235.3 million this year.
According to the province, the grant allocations are among the highest ever and represent a $58-million increase in operating grants across the province.
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