The Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) Board of Trustees has approved a balanced operating budget through the proposed partial use of reserves. The 2022-2023 CCSD draft budget was presented to and approved by the Board of Trustees on Wednesday, May 25, at a regular board meeting.
"The district continues to prioritize student learning through ensuring the availability of quality resources and supports in the classroom, in alignment with feedback from our various stakeholders that responded to the district's budget consultation earlier this year," says CCSD Board Chair Cathie Williams. "This budget has once again necessitated the balancing of difficult funding allocation choices in meeting a variety of competing needs within our schools."
Chief Superintendent Dr. Bryan Szumlas presented to the board the district's budget of $613.5 million in revenues and $627.0 million in expenditures for the fiscal year September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023. The result is a $13.5 million operating gap, which will be balanced through capital transactions and a proposed transfer from reserves. "These decisions were made based on board priorities, taking into consideration COVID-19 health and safety concerns, increased complex learning needs and ongoing union bargaining negotiations," says Dr. Szumlas. "We believe these recommendations represent a stable path forward for CCSD, despite uncertainties."
Additional points regarding the 2022-2023 CCSD budget include:
- The operating gap of $13.5 million, after adjusting for capital transactions, results in a $11 million proposed drawdown from reserves, which is subject to ministerial approval.
- The operating gap arises from the incurrence of higher costs for instructional support and special education classes, higher employee benefit costs and the impact of stronger inflationary pressures.
- The budgeted operating reserves for August 2023, excluding school generated funds are $10.5 million, representing approximately 1.7 per cent of annual spend, which establishes a reasonable balance between sustaining the size of the district's operations, while remaining compliant with the new requirement of keeping operating reserves within a range of no less than 1 per cent and no more than 3.15 per cent of annual spend.
"We are able to provide a balanced budget despite ongoing challenging economic times," adds Board Chair Cathie Williams. "By making difficult funding allocation choices and by using our reserves, we can continue to provide our students with quality faith-based Catholic education." The approved budget will be submitted to the Ministry of Education by the May 31 deadline.
