Lethbridge School Division budget meets challenges of anticipated funding drop

By Tim Kalinowski on May 26, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge School Division Board of Trustees approved the division’s 2021/2022 budget on Tuesday. And despite another anticipated drop in provincial government funding, the budget paints a picture of a school division rising to meet the challenges confronting it in a proactive way.
The budget anticipates revenues of $132.51 million in 2021/2022, which represents an approximate $3.37 million decrease from 2020/2021 operating budget. As a result of the 2.48-per-cent decrease in overall provincial funding, just under $2.64 million in reserves will be utilized next year. This decrease comes despite the fact the division is expected to grow from 11,249 students this year to 11,634 students next year.
The budget also successfully accounted for the increase in expenditures required to provide adequate staffing and other costs for the new Dr. Robert Plaxton Elementary School which is set to open this fall.
School transportation funding is also anticipated to hold steady this fall despite the changeover from the City to a private contractor, with a sustainable inflation rate of two per cent a year over the next five years. The only major concern on that front is gas prices, Trustees were informed, which could drive the budget up substantially if the current high prices continue for a lengthier period of time.
Board chair Christine Light thanked staff for crafting a budget which helps contain some of the fallout from recent COVID-19 impacts on schools and provincial funding cuts. She also was grateful the province did not reduce funding even more.
“I am thankful for the province for giving us a more generous funding model than we were anticipating,” she said during Tuesday’s board meeting. “Of course, we can always use more. Our students can always use more supports in the classrooms. However, this is a budget we were able to work with.”
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