Photo: Castanet

The Nicola-Similkameen School District is facing $1.5 million in expected budget pressures in its 2025-26 budget.

Faced with an estimated $1.5 million in expected budget pressures next year, the Nicola-Similkameen School District is proposing hundreds of thousands in cuts — and a school closure is very much on the table.

The cost overruns include an estimated $325,000 shortfall from the current year’s forecast, $500,000 from declining enrolment, $100,000 in teacher increments, $240,000 from increased benefits, $120,000 from increasing replacement costs and $215,000 from inflationary costs.

“The reality is our reserves are not able to keep up with the amount of money that we have been spending. We have been living beyond our means for a number of years,” SD58 superintendent Courtney Lawrence said.

She said SD58 has been dipping into its reserve to the tune of about $350,000 annually, depleting the account from about $2.4 million in 2020 to just over $1 million last year.

From the 2021-22 school year to the 2025-26 school year, enrolment was forecast to decline bye 5.35 per cent — equivalent to a $900,000 cut in ministry funding.

Who will be affected?

The budget plan includes $1,695,000 in cuts to teachers, including 7.5 FTE to enrolling teachers, 4 FTE to online teachers, 1.37 to enhancing learning teachers and 0.78 FTE to librarians, among others.

The job cuts would also eliminate the Grade 7 band program and summer reading program.

To meet collective agreement requirements, SD58 is proposing adding 5.43 full-time equivalents for learning assistance teachers, to the tune of about $652,000, and 1.3 FTE English language learning teachers, about $155,000.

Another 2.5 FTE addition for counsellors is proposed, which would cost about $300,000.

Between the increases and cuts, teachers jobs are proposed to be cut by 5.62 FTE — or about $588,000.

Proposed cuts to support staff include eight FTE to educational assistants, 1 tradesperson, and 1.5 FTE to clerical, among other measures that would save an estimated $714,000 and cut 14.5 FTE.

School closure floated

Lawrance said SD58 was exploring the option of a school closure, but the process would take at least a year and it was emotionally taxing on the community and the board. But she said “it’s not off the table.”

“If it would allow us to continue different positions, I think that’s a serious consideration,” she said.

Other strategies up for the board of education’s consideration would be to shift one director to a district principal position, reduce one elementary school vice principal and reduce noon hour supervisors, for a total of $159,000 in savings.

Also on the table is eliminating district funding for food program coordination and to use Mental Health Grant funds to cover counselling services to the tune of $64,000.

SD58 is inviting any feedback on its proposed budget and if any changes are supported, they will be incorporate to its final recommendations to the board of education. The board will consider the recommendations during budget deliberations on May 7 and May 14.

SD58 is among several school districts in B.C. proposing cuts from next year’s budget, including the Kamloops-Thompson school district.

“Every cut has an impact,” Lawrence said.

“None of this is easy. We don't particularly like any of these ideas, but these are the best of the bad ideas that we had to bring forward, because we have to be able to live within our needs.”