School trustees give nod to deep-deficit budget

Trustees of the Algoma District School Board have given approval in principle to a budget that spends $3.75 million more than it takes in.

Meeting as committee of the whole on Tuesday night, they agreed on a $113.5 million budget, offset by income of just $109.8 million.

That compares to a $112.7 million budget last year.

The new budget will be presented for final approval at the board's next meeting on June 11, said director of education Ray DeRosario (shown above).

Deficit to come from reserve funds

To cover this year's deficit, the board will dip into its rapidly dwindling reserve funds.

At the end of the last school year, it had $10.5 million in reserve accounts. By the end of the 2002/2003 school year, the board expects to be left with less than $2.8 million in reserve.

Just $1.8 million for school renewal

DeRosario is particularly concerned that the board is able to allocate just $1.8 million for school renewal.

Algoma's schools are among the oldest in the province he says, and provincial funding is not nearly enough to maintain them, he said.

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