School District 43 is once again projecting a deficit.
An astounding $13.4 million will have to be cut from school operations, according to budget figures released Tuesday, just months after $12.1 million was excised to balance the 2013/'14 budget, and a year after a deficit of $13 million began to materialize.
Unfortunately, like the boy who cried wolf, the district is not getting the traction it needs in its campaign to raise awareness about continued government underfunding.
That's in large part due to last year's mismanaged budget process, which failed to identify the structural deficit that has now become apparent.
Now, instead of having three years of proof to show how the district has consistently been underfunded by what it says is $16 million a year owing to inflation and other unfunded cost pressures, it has to counter public perception that it is the architect of its own misfortunes.
Last year's budgeting imbroglio played into the province's hands.
Trustees and SD43 officials will now need to work extra hard to win over a skeptical public and obtain the leverage necessary to obtain more provincial funding in the future.
