The Burnaby school district will have to dip into reserve funds to balance next year's budget thanks in part to a tax designed to fund the end of medical premiums in B.C.
A preliminary 2018/19 budget passed by the school board last month shows the district taking more than $1.5 million from reserve funds to make up for an operating shortfall.
The district will maintain current service levels and programs next year, according to secretary-treasurer Russell Horswill, but the new Employer Health Tax, set to come into effect Jan. 1, 2019, will cost the district about $1.2 million more than would the current Medical Service Plan (MSP) premiums.
"The biggest two items that are not funded, one is the new Health Employers Tax and the other is teachers incrementing up the salary scale," Horswill said.
While the district has the reserve funds to absorb the extra cost in next year's $287-million budget, projections for 2019/20 and onward show the district going into the red and facing cuts to services and programs.
Another rising cost for the district is extended health benefits, which are projected to jump 10 per cent next year. Horswill said the increase comes from staff using the benefits more and from better benefits negotiated at the provincial level.
A few budget changes for next year include a $10,000 increase in funding for the district's SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) committee.
The district is also adding 3.75 full-time equivalents (FTEs) of elementary school administration time, so every local elementary school will have a fulltime principal with no extra teaching duties next year.
At the district's three so-called "annex" schools (Glenwood, Rosser and Lyndhurst - small schools that share a principal with a larger buddy school) viceprincipals will get a bump from .5 to .8 of administration time.
To fund the change, the district is cutting nearly three-and-a-half positions at the district office.
"It was put forward as a redistribution of district administration money and moving it into being school administration money," Horswill said. "Our schools are getting bigger. Special education is getting more complicated. We've got a shortage of education assistants. ... Most of our neighbouring school districts already have full-timerelease principals, so we're also looking at that, wanting to make sure we retain our high-quality principals and that they don't go to another district because they'd have more release time."
To see the budget, visit burnabyschools.ca and click on the "Board" tab.
