The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Flin Flon School Board has proposed to make up a $308,000 shortfall next year by cutting budgets and upping the education cost to local taxpayers. The board's proposed 2004-05 budget, released to the public Wednesday, calls for a $154,000 increase to the special levy, the portion of funding that comes from Flin Flon property taxes. That represents a five per cent increase to the special levy, the largest boost the division has sought since 1998-99, when the levy also went up by five per cent. At the same time, the trustees have set out to cut expenditures, both existing and proposed, to the tune of $149,000. The remaining $5,000 needed to balance the budget, as is required by law, would come from the school division's surplus, which would be left at a projected $289,000. That would leave the division with a surplus of just under three per cent of its overall budget. Three per cent is the minimum surplus recommended by the province to cover unexpected costs such as long term staff illness and facility problems. More than two-thirds of the overall $308,000 shortfall comes as the result of the Creighton School Division's decision to phase in its own high school program starting this September. For the Flin Flon division, this will mean a a decrease of approximately $210,000 in tuition fees in the upcoming school year. About 30 fewer Creighton and Denare Beach students are projected to attend Hapnot Collegiate and Many Faces Education Centre next year. Provincial funding is another factor. The Manitoba government provides funding to school divisions based on enrollments, so when student populations go down, as has been the case in Flin Flon for years, so too does the revenue. As a result of the dwindling enrollment, the division proposes to cut 3.25 teaching positions Ñ one each at McIsaac School Ecole McIsaac and Ruth Betts School, and 1.25 at Hapnot Collegiate Ñ in 2004-05, but further cuts are necessary to balance the books. The proposed budget outlines $43,733 in deletions of existing expenditures, consisting of: Reducing the technology budget from $70,000 to $57,500, a saving of $12,500. See 'Positions' P.# Con't from P.# Doing away with a half-time receptionist position at the Flin Flon School Division office and a quarter-time clerical position at Hapnot, saving $19,396. Eliminating curling and bowling activities at the elementary school level, reducing transportation expenses by $5,000. Cutting out one Camp Whitney trip at the elementary or junior high level, saving $4,337. This would mean students would go to the camp in either grade 6 or grade 8, but not both as is currently done. Saving $2,500 on transportation for student participation in the Women in Science enrichment program. The program had been held in Cranberry Portage in previous years but this upcoming year will take place in Flin Flon. The budget also outlines $105,522 in new requests that would not be honoured, consisting of: Not hiring an additional maintenance person, which would have cost $47,931. Spreading out an upgrade to the heat and ventilation control system for the schools over two years rather than one, which would have cost an extra $25,000 in the upcoming school year. Leasing a maintenance truck rather than purchasing it, which would have cost $17,500. Looking at existing budgets, rather than increasing the budgets, to purchase new desks and tables for the Hapnot Collegiate library, which will cost $6,216. Looking at the existing technology budget to purchase an LCD projector, a $5,000 item, for use by all the schools. Deleting an increase to the junior high sports travel budget, saving $2,000. Eliminating a $1,125 request from Hapnot for a cycle tour. Looking at existing budgets to purchase a $750 camcorder for Hapnot. Just three new budgetary requests have been tentatively approved, consisting of: $20,000 for communication devices for maintenance staff working alone. $3,000 for professional development for teachers. $500 to the parent council at Many Faces Education Centre, bringing that school's parent council budget in line with that of the other schools. The proposed budget will spend a total of $10,776,957, with revenue coming from the provincial government (59 per cent), Flin Flon taxpayers (30 per cent), and other sources (11 per cent), including tuition fees from the Creighton School Division for French Immersion students and those in grades 11 and 12, as well as space rentals to Keewatin Community College. The new budget must be approved by a majority board vote no later than March 15, when the City has to be notified of any increases to the special levy. Changes could still be made.
