A small surplus is being forecast by the Near North District School Board for the next school year.
The board has approved its nearly $189 million budget, which includes a $61,000 surplus.
“I am proud of the work of the finance staff and the finance committee in preparing this balanced budget, says Ashley St. Pierre, board chair. “NNDSB is in great shape to continue its work of student achievement and well-being.”
Along with academic programming being preserved, officials say the budget includes an overall staffing increase of 33 full-time equivalent positions.
That includes converting 9 temporary educational assistants to permanent positions.
Enrolment is projected to increase by 0.4%.
A deficit of over $600,000 is being projected in the special education budget while the shortfall in transportation is $2.14 million.
The board says transportation continues to cause challenges to school board budgets across the province.
Seija Van Haesendonck, superintendent of business, says the budget was complicated by changes in the revised funding structure of the Ministry of Education.
However, she says the board received increased special education funding and Indigenous Education funding as part of the first year of a five-year phase-in of census updates.
**With files from Richard Coffin
