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Sooke schools defer spending on supplies to eliminate expected shortfall

The Sooke school district plans to delay spending on supplies this fall in order to eliminate a projected $900,000 shortfall.

The Sooke school district plans to delay spending on supplies this fall in order to eliminate a projected $900,000 shortfall.

The savings plan will be in force until November or December when the provincial government traditionally releases additional cash to districts.

In the past, the Sooke district has received about $1 million in holdback funds mid-way through the school year.

“We didn’t want to go and make any drastic cuts just to receive the money later in the year,” secretary-treasurer Harold Cull said.

“So this savings plan is just to try and smooth out the fluctuations in how and when we receive that money.”

Sooke, one of the few districts in the province with a growing student body, faces the shortfall because it needs to hire about 13 more educators for the 2013-14 school year, Cull said.

The district expects enrolment to jump by 100 students to 9,150.

Spending on supplies, contracts, travel and utilities will be restricted until the holdback money is released and the district can restore department budgets.

“We would end the year very much at a status quo level in terms of our salaries, benefits as well as our services and supplies,” Cull said.

The plan, which has received first reading by the board of education, will allow the district to balance its $82-million operating budget without affecting classroom programs, he said.

“The kids won’t see any impact in the schools. We think we can provide the same service levels with the dollars we’re getting.”

Patrick Henry, president of the Sooke Teachers’ Association, said that’s nothing to celebrate.

He said services have been reduced to the bare minimum over the past decade as provincial government grants failed to keep pace with rising costs.

“We’re maintaining services at an already abysmally insufficient level,” he said, noting that the district lacks an adequate number of counsellors, librarians and learning assistants.

“We have countless students going without support or service from our specialist departments around the district.”

Henry said Sooke’s rising enrolment and the extra provincial revenue that entails is small consolation.

“The fact that we’re growing doesn’t provide us any insulation from those financial pressures simply because the funding is not enough to keep up with inflation,” he said. “It’s truly a tragic situation.”

The budget passed first reading in May and goes to second and third reading next week. If approved, it will be submitted to the province by the end of the month.

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