WINNIPEG --
The Pembina Trails School Division is taking $1.5 million from its accumulated surplus fund to offset expenditures, and cutting nearly $7 million worth of spending for budget 2021/22.
The school division said it has been forced into this position from a combination of factors, including a government directive to freeze property taxes, pandemic- related costs and a recent arbitration award.
"Deferring an unprecedented amount in infrastructure maintenance and using $930 thousand from our surplus funds to cover necessary building repairs is far from ideal and not a permanent solution,” said board chair Kathleen McMillan in a news release.
The budget will see a reduction in middle years’ teacher-librarian time by 25 per cent, and high schools’ by half. The division will also reduce school instructional budgets, English Additional Language specialists, and divisional-based allocation for educational assistant staff.