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Trustees approve tight budget

Rocky View Schools’ trustees hashed out their 2011-12 budget and approved it by a 4-2 vote, June 2.

Rocky View Schools’ trustees hashed out their 2011-12 budget and approved it by a 4-2 vote, June 2.

The school division will use about three-quarters, approximately $118 million, of its $160 million operating budget for schools with the remaining $42 million dispersed to transportation, operations, administration, governance and instructional support.

There was a $5 million basic instruction provincial grant increase to cover teacher salaries. However, an unforeseen $4.2 million in other cuts from the Province resulted in net increase of $800,000 to the division.

Superintendent of Schools Greg Bass outlined challenges for the board including a 400-student influx for next year with the same number of instructional and support staff.

“We’ve been running pretty lean and it doesn’t seem like it because we are always hurting for cash,” he said.

RVS’ Education Centre, located in Airdrie, lost four curriculum specialists funded by Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI), which was cut by 50 per cent in February. In addition, one learning director position will go unfilled and one business development position will also remain vacant due to a lack of funds.

Administration also deferred hiring a full-time planner, accountant and human resource staffer to cut costs.

The school division’s overall care-taking budget was reduced by one per cent and a director of maintenance and a painting position will go unfilled for 2011-12.

To make ends meet, schools with populations more than 400 students will give $1.1 million in capital funding to those with less than 400.

Ward 3 Trustee Don Thomas voiced his displeasure with the revenue sharing since 75 per cent of the larger schools giving money are located in Airdrie.

“That’s a lot of money out of your community,” said Thomas. “To some extent, the allocation formula seems to forget that in the Airdrie community, at least for the next few years, we have some operational deficiencies to make up for.”

Thomas later hinted the whole process of allocating money and budgetary needs may require revisions and suggested deferring budget talks until June 16, but was unsuccessful.

A total of $527,997 was removed from instruction and administration to give operational personnel raises.

Ward 3 Trustee Sylvia Eggerer said taking instructional money and allocating it to operations and maintenance was wrong.

“I had a lot of difficulty with a budget that runs a deficit in maintenance and uses instruction money in order to balance that deficit,” said Eggerer. “I said I had a lot of problems with that last year and we are doing it again this year. I cannot support it coming on the backs of our children.”

Both Eggerer and Thomas voted against the budget.

Ward 4 Trustee Helen Clease represents Bragg Creek and Springbank and said she wasn’t upset with the budget but how thin the funds were stretched.

“We talk about dedication, passion, we talk about personal commitment, and that’s only going to carry education so far,” she said. “Somehow we have to get to this government to tell them that we need that cash, we need that sustainable funding.”

Board chair Bruce Pettigrew was abrupt in saying he wasn’t happy with the budget and that “it is what it is.”

Ward 1 Trustee Norma Lang approved the budget along with Colleen Munro who said she would “hold up her nose” to pass a budget that stunk.

The budget must be sent to Alberta Education for approval by June 30.


Airdrie Today Staff

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