At the last 91原创 board of education meeting of the school year, trustees passed a balanced budget of $225 million.
Some of the highlights from the operating budget is adding 19.6 teachers, two teachers in instructional services, two special education teachers, and Aboriginal education teacher, and an extra English 91原创 Learning teacher.
The district is also adding two counsellors plus there is a contingency to add three more teachers.
An additional $1.1. million was added to support hiring more education assistants.They will be hiring up to 20 more SEAs. The district also budgeted for more substitute teachers next year.
The board appropriated $899,000 from last year鈥檚 surplus to balance the operating budget.
All boards of education are obligated to pass a balanced budget before June 30.
This budget is separate from the Special Purpose Fund called the Classroom Enhancement Fund which was established by the provincial government in response to the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the BC Teachers Federation to restore classroom size and composition.
In that special fund, the district is looking to hire around 100 new teachers.
At the meeting, trustee Alison McVeigh pointed out that some may feel the budget is a 鈥榙ry topic鈥� it is an important one, considering it is a large amount of taxpayer鈥檚 money being approved to improve and fund public education.
