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Burnaby school district braces for administrative cuts

The Burnaby school district is bracing for the fallout from last Tuesday’s provincial budget announcement.

The Burnaby school district is bracing for the fallout from last Tuesday’s provincial budget announcement.

The new financial plan calls for school districts across the province to find a total of $29 million in “administrative efficiencies” next year and $25 million the year after.

What portion of those figures will relate specifically to School District No. 41 won’t be clear until the education ministry sends out its budget instructions next month, but secretary-treasurer Greg Frank said students are bound to be affected by more cuts.

“At this point, no matter where we make reductions, there will be an impact on services,” Frank told the NOW. “They are services that are supporting the district, and they’re all supporting students directly or indirectly.”

After accounting for the money districts need to cover recent labour deals with teachers and support staff, Frank said the province is only putting about $35 million of new money into the system next year.

“Then they’ve turned around and taken $29 million out provincially,” he said of the administrative cuts. “At the end of the day it means that school districts will have to run their systems with $6 million more money.” 

With increasing costs, like inflation, Frank said that will make balancing next year’s budget “extremely difficult” for school districts.

“There are efficiencies to be found, but the magnitude of this is what has us concerned,” Frank said.

Burnaby spent 2.4 per cent of its operating budget on district administration last year, compared to the provincial average of 3.3 per cent.