The Delta school district is saying there has been a change to the dates for its budget process this year.
Those date changes will impact when the board of education makes a public release of budget recommendations and hold a special public board meeting to hear input from the public.
The proposed budget was originally going to be released early next month, but that’s been pushed to April 29, after the provincial budget has been finalized.
The board will then hold a meeting Tuesday, May 4 via Zoom for people to comment on the budget recommendations, with the board voting on the budget May 11.
Last year, Delta school district had a shortfall of $582,000, but there were no cuts to teaching or maintenance staff.
Instead, to balance the books, the district decreased expenses with reductions in administration, technology and through hiring delays.
The previous year’s operating budget saw no cuts to any department for the first time in many years, and also included a small surplus of about $63,000.
Like most school districts in B.C., Delta has been suffering from declining enrollment for a number of years, which had a big impact on annual operating budgets.
Some years saw the enrollment drop by hundreds, forcing school trustees to make a lot of tough financial decisions, including closing Delta Manor and Boundary Beach elementary schools as well as cuts in areas like educational assistants.
In more recent years that trend came to an end as enrollment stabilized.
Delta has seen an overall decrease of 68 students this year, while last year saw the district gain 39 students.
For more information about this year’s budget process check the school district’s website at https://www.deltasd.bc.ca/.
