The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School Board has received $1.74 million in holdback funding from the provincial government.
It is not a windfall, and will only be used to replenish reserves that have been spent to address last year’s budget shortfall.
School boards receive funding on a per-student formula, and the province holds back some of the funds in case enrolment projections are not accurate. In late December, the education ministry notified the board what the amount of holdback for the present year would be.
Board secretary-treasurer Flavia Coughlan said once staff has completed the district’s amended budget for the present school year, it will most likely recommend to the board that any “surplus” funds be used to address a shortfall for the coming school year.
“It looks right now that at minimum it will be $1.5 million, and hopefully more,” said board chair Mike Murray. “So it does have a significant effect.”
Early predictions set next year’s shortfall at approximately $2.5 million.
Murray explained that the board has addressed funding shortfalls, approximately $5 million in each of the past two years, with money from reserves that is no greater than the amount received in holdback funding the previous year.