BUFFALO TRAIL PUBLIC SCHOOLS
2019-2020 Budget Impact

The October 24^th, 2019 Provincial Budget Announcement came with some very difficult news for Buffalo Trail Public Schools.  The overall impact saw a reduction of $1,450,000.00 when compared to the 2018-2019 budget.  While the Board of Trustees were expecting some reductions in some grants, they did not predict such a significant drop in revenue.

The 1.45 million dollar reduction included:

• Cancellation of the Classroom Improvement Fund Grant               
• Removal of Class Size Funding                                                   
• Removal of the grant to offset Albert Education School Fee Reduction                    
• No Funding to address the Government negotiated TEBA Agreement Costs                                          

While the funding announcement did include a Transition Grant, the amount provided in this grant did not address the other reductions in funding that we experienced.  

With a commitment to fund growth and to "hold the line" on the budget, monies need to be redistributed to support enrolment growth mostly in urban areas of the province.  Declining enrolment boards have to deal with the loss of funding on multiple fronts.  "Like many rural school boards, our Board is working very hard to deal with the challenges of declining enrolment.  While our enrolment decline is minimal this year, the impacts of the budget announcement are such that we will need to make significant cuts in order to balance", stated Board Chair, Lanie Parr.  "We have committed to spend today's dollars on today's students and as such, we have not accumulated a large surplus".  

"The only choice BTPS has to bring their budget into balance will be to reduce costs.  We have worked hard to keep cuts away from the classroom.  Enrolment decline over the past few years has meant that we have constantly looked for efficiencies to direct as much money as possible to schools.  While the Board does all that it can to protect students from reduced funding, we are now at a point where this is next to impossible", said Superintendent Bob Allen, "Finding this much money at this point in the year is going to mean mid-year changes and we are concerned with the impact on our students.  BTPS has always put students first and we will do all we can to protect the classroom.  Unfortunately, we are running out of options".

Over the next couple of weeks, the Board of Trustees will be considering the best available options for the November 30^th, 2019 budget submission.  Schools and departments will be asked to make very tough decisions for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.