School District 60 approves Preliminary Budget for 2019-2020

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – At a School District 60 meeting on Monday, Trustees approved the Preliminary Budget for the upcoming 2019-2020 School Year.

Dori Alger, School District Controller, presented the Preliminary Budget to Board Trustees.

About 98 percent of the District’s revenue comes from the Ministry of Education through grants and is based on estimated student enrollment.

At the time of the estimate, which was made in February, the School District estimated that close to 6,500 students would enroll for the 2019-2020 school year.

According to Alger, the Board has been able to balance the budget based on student enrollment projections and without the use of reserves.

“The Board has been able to balance its budget based on enrollment projections and all the resources provided. No board reserves were required to balance this budget.”

Now with the recent announcements of mill closures and curtailments, the District is unsure as to how it will affect enrollment numbers but feels that it will not affect student funding until after three months into the school year.

The total amount approved for the Preliminary Budget is $80.2 million.