Garden Valley School Division welcomed the community to a pre-budget discussion last week designed to help guide trustees as they set the priorities for the 2024-2025 financial plan.
It was a change of pace for the school board, which normally hosts a public information session about the new budget just a few weeks before submitting it to the province in spring, following consultations with local parent advisory councils, teachers, and municipal leaders.
This year, GVSD is moving that entire process up to give the community time to really weigh in on the budget.
“In the last little while, we’ve been getting our funding announcements so very late,” said board chair Leah Klassen. The provincial government often announces its public schools funding plan in late January. “It makes it really difficult to have a true consultation process, talking to people in February about a budget that you’re going to have to pass in a few weeks.
“We thought doing it earlier might lean more towards transparency to actually receive some valuable feedback that we can act on.”
A small group of concerned citizens came out for the consultation meeting held at Northlands Parkway Collegiate on Nov. 28.
Superintendent Dan Ward and secretary-treasurer Kevin Vovchuk walked the group through GVSD’s stated strategic goals for the years ahead and the typical annual financial planning process.
Ward noted that the division has some very concrete goals for student learning tied to improving literacy and numeracy skills across all grade levels. Addressing student mental health and creating supportive school environments are also key focuses for the division.
Vovchuk outlined how public schools funding works, explaining that two-thirds of GVSD’s funding comes from the provincial government. The bulk of the rest comes from local tax dollars, which, under the direction of the province, has had to remain static for the last several years.
“It does really limit our ability to generate additional revenue,” Vovchuk said, adding that it’s uncertain whether the new NDP government will give school boards back some control over taxation rates.
Even though assessment rates have been increasing in GVSD’s catchment area (up 14.45 per cent in 2023), the division hasn’t been able to benefit from that growth. Instead, it has had to lower the mill rate in recent years to stay within provincially mandated taxation guidelines.
“It would have been nice to enjoy the 14 per cent organic growth that we had within the catchment,” Vovchuk said. “That would have made a big difference to our budget.”
The presentation was followed by a time of discussion, where school board members at each table asked participants a series of questions.
“We wanted to know what programs and features that Garden Valley has that you appreciate? What are some things that we would be able to improve on?” Klassen said. “And is there anything that we should think about eliminating?”
The responses trustees got will be compiled and considered as the board moves on with the budgeting process.
Klassen noted the board has already consulted with the Garden Valley Teachers Association about the upcoming budget, and further meetings with both the parent advisory councils and municipal reps are planned as well.
Another public meeting will be held in the new year to share more details of the financial plan once it’s further developed.
