Wednesday May 7, 2014 www.saobserver.net $1.25 GST INCLUDED
Getting into the story Leopold Gonella plays among a stack of books made into a sculpture by Eric Kutschker during the opening of The Art of Storytelling in the 21st Century, on display now until June 28 at the SAGA Arts Centre.
JAMES MURRAY/OBSERVER
Trustees prepare to slash budget School district: $1.8 million deficit means proposed cuts to staffing, educational services. By Tracy Hughes OBSERVER STAFF
School closures are not on the table for School District #83’s upcoming budget deliberations but just about everything else is being considered for cutbacks to cope with a $1.8 million deficit. A proposed budget is being presented to trustees by secretary-treasurer Stirling Olson for the May 13 meeting, which details suggestions for cuts based on input from the public, parent and employee groups and preliminary budget discussions with school trustees. “Unfortunately, the funding levels have not been increased to cover the escalating cost pressures
that school districts have and continue to face. Unless this changes, school districts will be required to continue to reduce the programs, services and levels of service in our education system,” writes Olson in his report to the board. A portion of the budget reductions are directly related to a decline in enrolment, particularly in the secondary grades, resulting in staffing and supply reductions of $620,000 without impacting the current level of service in the school district. This, however, leaves a remaining deficit of $1.2 million that has to be cut from school district operations. The report suggests a num-
Unfortunately, the funding levels have not been increased to cover the escalating cost pressures... Unless this changes, school district will be required to continue to reduce the programs, services and levels of service in our education system. Stirling Olson SCHOOL DISTRICT TREASURER ber of cuts across a vast area of school district programs including: reductions in music program administration to save $40,000, speech and language pathologists to save $20,000, cuts to deaf and hard of hearing programs to save $20,000, gifted program cuts to
This week A woman died under unusual circumstances following a headon collision Monday. See A3. It’s a Salty Dog weekend with a jam-packed street fest and bike race. See pages A17 and A21.
save $20,000, special education teachers reductions for a $40,000 savings, and counselling staff cuts shared between secondary and middle schools to save a total of $50,000. Other notable reductions in staffing come to teacher/librarians,
where the suggestion is to change the elementary and middle school staffing ratios to match the secondary school level of one full time position for 700 students. This will mean cuts of nearly three full-time positions for a saving of $284,400. Cuts are also suggested for the family life teaching position to save $60,000. If passed, this means regular classroom teachers will be required to teach the family life components of the curriculum. Department services and supply budgets, including professional development and travel expenses, are being cut by $266,600, while subSee Maintenance on page A2
Index Opinion ....................... A6 View Point .................. A7 Life & Times ............... A8 Sports................A17-A20 Arts & Events ... A21-A24 Time Out................... A25 Vol. 107, No. 19, 48 pages