Delta’s school board has approved the budget for next school year, while promising to continue advocating for more funding from the province.
On Tuesday evening (April 29), chair Joe Muego, vice-chair Val Windsor, and trustees Nick Kanakos, Masako Gooch and Erica Beard (trustees Nimmi Daula and Ammen Dhillon were not in attendance) voted unanimously to adopt the budget recommendation for the 2025/2026 school year, commending district staff for their hard work in balancing out a projected $188,000 shortfall amid trying financial times.
Under B.C.'s School Act, all districts must submit a balanced budget for the coming school year to the Ministry of Education and Child Care on or before June 13.
The $240,729,105 total budget includes a $7,896,468 capital fund, $27,779,436 in special purpose funds (moneys and grants to deliver specific programs, activities, scholarships and donations), and $1,950,659 for tangible capital assets purchased using the district's operating funds — things like technology projects, and equipment like automated external defibrillators, emergency preparedness gear and equipment for the district's Inclusive Education department.
It also includes a general operating budget of $203,102,542, a decrease of about $1.42 million from the current school year due largely to an anticipated drop in enrolment of 221 students.
According to a district press release, key drivers of the $188,000 shortfall, which represents about 0.1 per cent of next year’s budgeted operating expenses, include unfunded wage and benefit increases, unavoidable inflationary increases and other non-salary related cost pressures, illness cost increases and a decrease in investment income caused by lower interest rates.
Last week (April 22), representatives from CUPE 1091 and the Delta Teachers Association expressed their disappointment that the budget did not include more money for educational assistants (EAs) — despite repeated requests from her union, teachers, parents, and the district’s Inclusive Learning department — and teacher peer support.
Speaking after the board’s vote, Trustee Kanakos thanked staff for producing a balanced budget “with relatively little pain” as compared to other districts (Surrey, for example, is facing a shortfall of around $16 million.)
“In any budget, there is always things that can be second-guessed,” Kanakos said, noting budgeting is an ongoing process. “Delta has a policy of fiscal responsibility and our education dollars are looked after with the utmost care. Given these trying economic times, I’m in support of the budget as presented.”
Trustee Beard, echoing Kanakos’ comments, said coming out with a balanced budget during tough economic times “really speaks to the talent and care” that staff put into their work.
“It just gives me a lot of peace of mind knowing my kids are going to school in a very well-taken-care-of district, so thank you,” Beard said.
Trustee Gooch also thanked staff for their hard work and secretary treasurer Nicola Christ in particular for her support in helping trustees understand the budget.
“I know you and your team do everything possible to find every single last dollar … during these incredibly tumultuous times,” Gooch said. “I know there's still a lot of work to be done, and I know that we're all advocating for more funding. I know this team is great, and I know that we will keep going and keep doing that and keep persevering.”
Vice-chair Val Windsor noted, as someone who has “been around the block a few times,” that the $188,000 shortfall is on top of the millions of dollars stripped from previous budgets.
“In my opinion, the district is a victim of a funding formula [based around] outdated 2002 contract language,” Windsor said, adding the government of the day forced districts to live with what they had despite differences in collective agreements.
“We were second from the bottom when it came to teacher and administrative salaries. We had very, very frugal school boards who prided themselves on their being able to run a school district with less money than most other districts around, and we are still paying the price for that today, unfortunately.”
Windsor said that in her time as a teacher, union local president and school trustee in Delta, the district has always done an incredible job of managing the money it had, noting that without its very dedicated staff, “ we would be in a tougher spot than we are in right now.”
With more funding, equal to what other districts get, Windsor said Delta would be able to pay more staff and offer more educational programs and services to students
“As trustees, we are going to continue to lobby government. We know that our partner groups are out there fighting for that same funding as well, and we want funding to be more equal for all students in Delta and for other school districts who are facing the same situations that we do, through no fault of our own,” she said.
Chair Muego, speaking last, noted ensuring a balanced budget is a “momentous and complex task, not only because of the challenges of any current year, but because an unknown future must always be taken into account.”
“To me, this means that a realistic (...) conservative approach must be taken to ensure that resources go directly to the students today, and that as districts we are prepared to continue to deliver those service levels in spite of the volatility around us.”
Muego said trustees must balance their “responsibilities as public education service providers under the School Act, our contractual requirements with our dedicated teachers and support staff, the fiduciary expectations of the public, and the funding predicament that, in spite of ministerial best efforts, still shrinks in relation to our costs on an annual basis,” all while carrying the regional inequities that Windsor spoke of.
“In this co-governance model, we are at the mercy of these outside factors. We are left to work with what we have. So we have tried to respond to feedback and concerns we’ve heard from the public and our partners, and even the many that chose not to voice their feedback,” Muego said.
“I realize there was some disappointment with the budget in response to both educational assistants and teacher mentorship programs, as an example. These are serious concerns to us as well. But they are both complex issues that are difficult to address without full study.”
Muego said that while the board must, by law, produce a balanced budget now, “it is not the only time to make assessment of need, and to allocate for those needs.”
“This board fully intends that staff work with our partners, and with the current data and experiences to appropriately address and plan for those needs, even if this appears during the year.”
Muego said EA staffing is one of the board’s top-three priorities, which the board shared with Education Minister Lisa Beare during a meeting Monday, and pledged to continue to to advocate for more EA funding from the ministry, as was promised during last fall’s provincial election.
“The minister shared with us that this remains in her mandate letter, and they are currently working through the logistics of how to provide the support promised. We thank our partners for their patience in this process.”
