Trustees on Edmonton’s Catholic and public school boards on Tuesday passed balanced budgets for the upcoming school year.
The budget for Edmonton Public Schools is $1.4 billion. The budget for Edmonton Catholic Schools is half that amount at $507.2 million.
The Catholic district is ending this year with a $7.5-million deficit which will be covered by dipping into its surplus, which will end up at $20.6 million.
Trustee Marilyn Bergstra asked what could happen if the board keeps relying on the surplus to balance the books.
“How serious do you think it’s going to be once we’ve exhausted our surpluses if the funding models remain at a status quo where they only fund increases to student enrolment?” she asked.
“I think the province is trying to address the cost of education,” replied Barry Devlin, the district’s chief financial officer.
“So our best strategy right now is … to proceed with today’s dollars and today’s kids and try to balance the budget for this year,” he said.
The provincial government has committed to funding increases in school enrolment. That translates into $9.1 million to cover an additional 1,359 students expected to enrol in Edmonton Catholic schools this fall.
The public board expects to have an additional 2,716 students next year.
The budget includes funding to create the equivalent of 68.5 full-time teaching positions and $12.3 million for building maintenance.