The budget for the School District of Mystery Lake has been set at just over $44,000,000 for the 2017-2018 calendar year.

 

The school board will be receiving just under $35,000,000 from the province and almost $8,500,000 from property tax.

 

Over 75% of the budget, around $33,225,000, will be spent on teachers’ salaries.

 

School board Secretary-Treasurer Kelly Knott, who presented the budget late last week at the school district office, said that school board spending is up 0.64% and that balancing the budget with a surplus is not an option.

 

She said that the school board expects a surplus of just over $850,000, or 1.9% of the budget.

 

The surplus is kept as emergency funding for the school board should it be required.

 

The maximum surplus allowed by the province is 4% of the yearly budget.

 

Knott said that enrolment is up by 68 students and that the school district is receiving funding from the province for 2925 students, when in fact they have over 3100.

 

Knott added that enrolment is up and that the resources at the school district’s disposal aren’t sufficient.

 

She also added that the school district has a stable staffing situation, and are possibly looking at a staffing increase for student support staff.

 

The budget must be submitted to the province by the end of March.

 

The School District of Mystery Lake’s next school board meeting is taking place tomorrow night.