Dear Editor:

As I will be unable to attend the school board meeting on May 25 due to a prior commitment, I will express my concerns with the 2016-2017 School District budget in this letter.

By posting the budget a mere five days prior the meeting, it is apparent that the board office hopes that no one closely scrutinizes it.

While I am unsure of their individual involvement in the development of this budget, I would hope that the trustees would question one budget item that appears to be free of any cuts.

In fact, its budget has increased.

It is clear that there is a “sacred cow” in the budget and that is services and supplies for district administration.

Despite proposing a five per cent reduction in services and supplies across the district at both the March 8 public consultation and the April 26 budget advisory committee meeting, the new budget shows a 5.6 per cent increase to the services and supplies budget for district administration.

The budget for services and supplies to schools, however, has been reduced by 12.1 per cent when compared to the 2015-2016 budget.

Services and supplies for district administration now comprises two per cent of the district’s operating expenses.

This is outrageous.

Let’s look at this another way.

The expected FTE count for 2016-2017 is 2,222. With approx. $1.5 million allocated to services and supplies to schools, the district will spend $675 per student.

District administration comprises 10 people at the board office..

There are other professionals who work at the board office, but they are categorized as either instruction or operations and maintenance.

With approximately $480,000 allocated to services and supplies for district admin, that’s $48,000 per district administration employee.

One can easily see where the board office’s priorities lie.

And yes, I do understand that services and supplies often supports district-wide initiatives, like the supposedly valuable District Visioning Day.

But in an era of cuts, how can the school board possibly justify increasing spending on services and supplies for district administration?  The optics of this decision are appalling.

All of the schools are being asked to do more with less, but the board office, for some reason, is not.

Robin Stille

Osoyoos, B.C.