The Board Of Trustees Of The Avon Maitland District School Board Has Received And Approved The 2024/2025 Revised Budget

by Bob Montgomery

The Board of Trustees of the Avon Maitland District School Board received and approved the 2024/2025 revised budget at this week’s school board meeting.

Avon Maitland Superintendent of Corporate Services Cheri Carter says they are required by the Ministry to bring their revised budget to the board after it's filed in December. And, she says the revised budget is basically the same as the one they filed in the spring except that the total revenue and the total expenses have gone up, upwards of four million dollars. So Carter says they are still not balanced, but they are compliant and they have an operating deficit of just under 2.2 million dollars.

Carter explains the ministry allows them to carry a deficit for two years as long as they are compliant, and they ran a deficit in 23-24, so that was year one and 24-25 is year two. They are required to balance their budget for 25-26 unless they get approval from the Minister to carry the deficit for another year. But they are looking into how they might bring the budget back into balance for the 25-26 year but that will depend on what the grants will look like for that year.

Carter says the Canada Pension Plan increase is one thing that's putting pressure on them because she doesn't believe they've received funding to cover that. And their Special Education portfolio continues to be over budget, but she says that's been consistent with most boards across the Province. And another cost pressure they've identified is a recent funding change in their transportation model. She says they're OK for this year but they are concerned about what that will look like in the coming years because of the changes. And she adds, a small drop in enrollment this year is also a concern.