A $119 million dollar operating budget has been approved by School District 57’s Board of Education, although its been passed begrudgingly.
Trustees voted 5-1 to pass the budget that takes $700,000 from un-appreciated surpluses.
Management and Finance Chair Brenda Hooker says this leaves $1.2 million in the fund.
“And that’s an estimate of before our 14-15 fiscal year is finalized, so at this time we are projecting 1.2 million,” says Hooker, “which is around one percent of our total operating budget, which is not a huge reserve financially.”
Hooker says a reduction in 27 staff will come as a result of the budget, all of which are through retirement and declining enrolment.
Many of the trustees noted they would rather pass a budget that they were in control of, rather than have ministry appointed staff do it.