Photo: Kathy Michaels

FILE- Central Okanagan Public Schools will see some budget cuts in the days ahead.

Belt tightening at the Central Okanagan school district is underway as a $5.2 million budget shortfall is addressed.

“We are still going through possible areas of reduction over the next few weeks with fine tooth comb,” schools superintendent Kevin Kaardal said Thursday, a day after presenting the proposed budget to the board.

“Then we'll bring back a final recommendation.”

Ultimately Kaardal said classroom resources will be prioritized as the district addresses the budget shortfall for the 2025-26 school year.

There will be some staffing cuts, he said, with the focus on reducing administration jobs.

Administration cuts will be “at every level” from the superintendent office to vice principal positions, he said.

“You try and do those (cuts) through attrition, but it’s not always possible,” he said.

That said, the district is aiming to maintain the status quo for the classroom.

“There will be no layoffs for continuing contract teachers,” Kaardal said.

Some temporary teachers will not be returning.

“We are conservatively adding to CUPE staff,” he said.

The tighter budget is due to a number of issues, including inflation, the government not covering the full cost of the collective agreement, and fewer students enrolling in the district than expected, thereby reducing the expected amount of provincial funding.

The report that went to the board also indicated that portable classroom costs continue to weigh on the books.

The district is currently at 112 per cent capacity utilization district-wide and those temporary classrooms are paid for with the operating budget.

The cost of teacher and support staff illness also continues to exceed annual budget allocations.

The Employment Standards Act requires the district provide five paid sick days for teachers teaching on call and casual CUPE staff. This is unfunded and adds a budget pressure of approximately $200,000 per year.

It’s a "complex" set of issues the district is navigating and it will mean some services are “delivered differently.”

Kaardal, however, is confident that the school environment will be preserved.

“Money is tight all the time, and yet, we've continued to improve in our graduation rate over the past 10 years,” he said.

“In the last three years, we’ve averaged 96 per cent graduation rates and we're spending the money in the right place, in terms of making learner success our primary responsibility.”