School District 54 in Smithers has decided to move forward with its amended budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year.
The third and final reading took place at Tuesday night’s board meeting on Montreal Street, where Board Chair Jennifer Williams and other members were able to approve and confirm Education Ministry revenues.
SD54 Secretary Treasurer Dave Margerm says expenses were very close, but believes there wasn’t much change altogether.
“From a budgetary point-of-view, we didn’t need to adjust our budget. Mid-year budget adjustments can have financial implications to the School District, and being small schools and I get a little easier to predict enrolment which is what produces funding.”
He adds SD54 usually doesn’t have problems or issues, and are, in fact, predicting a two percent increase in enrolment for the 2018-19 calendar year.
“If there’s significant changes to finances, especially decreases in funding, it means we have to start adjusting how we spend money in the School District, which, if we have to reduce our spending, it can have implications on all of our schools.”
Moving forward, Margerm says SD54 will continue to assess enrolment numbers at all schools to ensure needs are met for students, parents, teachers, and staff.