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Cornerstone school board passes 2019-20 budget

For consecutive years, the South East Cornerstone Public School Division is going to wrestle with the fact their governing body, administration and employees face another deficit budget situation.

For consecutive years, the South East Cornerstone Public School Division is going to wrestle with the fact their governing body, administration and employees face another deficit budget situation.

The division’s board members were well aware of the situation going into their June 19 open business meeting held in Weyburn.

Chief financial officer Shelley Toth delivered the facts behind the $3.2 million operating cash deficit. She said the deficit is to be funded from the division’s accumulated surplus. A similar situation arose last fiscal year.

In the year previous to that, a deficit budget was planned however, the system realized a small surplus at the end of the cycle. 

The system has worked extensively on belt tightening moves to reduce budget expenses. Those moves included a reduction in administration personnel through attrition and some serious cuts to the governance side of the financial picture.

One major capital project was added to the division’s roster, the start of construction on a school bus garage in Weyburn, on division property that will be fully funded by the division at a cost of $3 million.

Following the meeting, Toth noted that there was “still some room, but if we keep dipping into our surplus, it will get very difficult.”

That statement was backed by director of education Lynn Little and board chairwoman Audrey Trombley, who said the cuts made at the board and administration levels a few years ago, left little wiggle room now for further dramatic cuts.

The trio stated that while school divisions in the province’s two major cities are also dealing with tight finances, the rural divisions have their own unique set of circumstances such as having to transport a large student population over longer distances and often to smaller schools. That had been affirmed earlier by Andy Dobson, the manager of facilities and transportation for the division, in his semi-annual transportation report.

“We are maintaining the status quo in terms of staffing and programming for the upcoming year,” said Little, referring to the 1,045.22 full-time equivalent employment positions currently filled in the division with about 550 of those being teachers.

The total revenue projected in the 2019-20 budget was $115.8 million with operating expenditures listed at $107.9 million and capital expenditures of $19.9 million.