Slide 1

June 25, 2013School District 69 (Qualicum)

Looking Forward ~Ongoing Budget Work

1Im sorry I couldnt be there with you tonight. I hope this presentation can provide you with a brief update on our ongoing work on balancing the budget.

Over the course of our budget deliberations it was clear that we needed to take a longer look at things. Continuing to nickel and dime ourselves year after year to balance the budget was bleeding us dry. We had to take a long term look at what we are doing and how we need to change in order to remain financially sound as a school district. This report is an update on where we are at in that journey.4 Year Plan to BalanceJanuary 2013: $3 million over 4 yearsYear One: 2013-14:$639,000 increase in revenues (sustainable?)$226,000 ongoing savings from Admin, O&M and Transportation$419,750 one-time savings and use of surplusJune 2013: $2,146,615 over next 3 years

2Back in January we began this journey with a projected loss of more than 3 million dollars over 4 years. This is significant, especially considering the year after year cuts weve already experienced for almost a decade.We just completed the budget for the first of the four years. Over the course of this years budget deliberations we found $639,000 in additional revenues through distributed learning, international students and increased transportation fees. What we dont know is whether we can sustain these higher levels of funding.We also found savings, but only $226,000 of these are ongoing. These means we have more work to do.A recent update on our funding projections show we need to find $2.1 million in additional revenues or expenditure cuts in order to balance over the remaining three years of our four year window.No single solution will solve this problem. Only great effort on a number of fronts will help us overcome this shortfall.Ongoing Budget WorkCurrently working on for 2013/14:Reduction of Lease CostsReduction of utility costs through locking off surplus space:#1 Portables (highest consumer of heat and electricity)#2 Sections of Schools reduce utilities to min.#3 Individual Classrooms electricity savings + better use of custodial servicesImplementation of p-cards with % savings rebate back to the board

Since the passing of the budget in April, we have continued to work on initiatives to provide savings in 2013/14. We are working with lease partners to find more affordable rates to maintain the most effective facilities for our students.We are also looking at surplus spaces in our own facilities. We know that our system is great at using all available resources to the benefit of our students. However, the time has come that we cant afford to maintain some of our specialized spaces. Our focus is to start with those spaces that will save us the most. A closed portable means 0 electricity, 0 heating costs, and a reduction in maintenance related to accelerated ware and tear and the vandalism that portables seem to attract. By closing sections of schools, we can eliminate electricity and reduce heating to a minimum. Also by doing this or closing classrooms in one area of a school, we can make better use of our custodial staff in the remainder of the facility.Over the summer we are looking at a purchasing card system that will pay us back at a % of purchases and make our purchasing process more streamlined.3Ongoing Budget WorkCurrently working on for 2013/14:Implementation of Year 1 of the Transportation Review PlanDiscussions with RDN regarding Transportation initial discussions indicate legislative limitationsCopier and peripheral device review:New machines more efficient for staff, savings on inkReduce # of devices utility savingsLease vs. buy

This is the first year for the implementation of the recommendations from our Transportation Review. We will be keeping a close watch on revenues to see if we hit our projections. We also have discussed with the RDN some great ideas that have come up through both the Transportation survey and the Budget survey. Unfortunately it appears that some ideas are hampered by legislative restrictions. However, we are continuing to look for ideas together to make both our systems better.We have also been working on a Copier/ Peripheral device plan. We will be using a two phased approach to replace copiers with newer machines at lower per copy costs as well as a reduction in the number of units. One of the biggest opportunities for savings is the replacement of a number of ink jet printers with one multi-unit. The per page costs reduce from up to 25 cents per page down to less than a penny. Accompanying this is the energy savings of fewer units. And we will be evaluating our current practice of purchasing vs. leasing machines. 4Ongoing Budget Work2013/14 work for 2014/15International Student Program define goals and program objectives and how they might effect budgetDistributed Learning course development to enhance opportunities leading to increased grant revenueDevelopment of a new Long Term IT Plan

We have identified several areas where will be continuing to work in order to be ready for the 2014/15 budget.We will continue to work on recommendations from the Player report and input from our community to shape our international program. We also have put funding in the budget for this year to further develop DL courses. We hope this will result firstly in better programs, and support the revenues generated out of these programs which help our bottom line.As well, the IT committee is continuing to work on a long term plan for technology in our schools.5Ongoing Budget Work2013/14 work for 2014/15Make a long term decision on the PCTC in context of a broader review of facilitiesSchool amalgamation and cost reduction studyShort term reduction of high cost leased sitesRecommend a reduction of 900 pupil spaces to right size the district given 10 year growth projectionsReview of cost neutrality of Family Place after 1 year of operations (Fall 2013)

We had several recommendations coming out of the budget process related to facilities. As you can see we have a lot of work to do. This is one key area where we know we need to do something, but the right answers are not obvious. It will take a lot of collective wisdom in order to know what is the best solution. As we saw in the fall under the land and buildings review, we have 6000 spaces for 4000 students. Our projections dont see us breaking the 4500 mark in the foreseeable future. We also have leased school facilities and office spaces in Family Place and the PCTC. In order to solve this we will need to consider all avenues and possibilities. This is a system wide problem that will require a system wide and community wide solution. I, for one, look forward to the ideas and solutions that our community may have for us to solve this part of our budget problem.6Ongoing Budget Work2013/14 work for 2014/15Recommend to AFG to consider projects that reduce ongoing operational expensesReview areas where busses have room for increases in service which will increase ridership

We have concluded our work with the Spending Plan for the Annual Facility Grant for 2013/14. In this plan we have considered options for the reduction of ongoing operating expenses. As we work on the plan for 2014/15 we will continue to look for opportunities to be come greener as well as leaner in our utility consumption.Finally, as we continue to implement our transportation plan, we will look for opportunities to expand our service and increase ridership.7Ongoing Budget WorkOther Items identified through the budget:Review of Secondary optional courses and impact of providing these courses on students and budgetReview of Special Needs and Student Support Services budget in light of chronic under-funding in this areaReview of various instructional models for best fit for our district including the Finnish model, or a model of low pupil to teacher rations with little or no support staff.

There have been many great ideas that have come up throughout our budget work. While we have begun work on some and scheduled work on others, we also have an ongoing list of items that we will address further as we work through those items that were our top priorities. These items outline our need to continue to question how we deliver educational services.8Ongoing Budget WorkOther Items identified through the budget:Ongoing evaluation of Non-enrolling teacher expenditure areas such as Career Programs, Counseling, Special Ed, ESL, Continuing EducationLeveraging of community resources to further develop the Community School modelEvaluate distribution of workload given changes in personnel at senior management level

Similar to the previous slide, we will need to review areas of support that work along side the classroom, and question how we can continue to provide services when the funding continues to shrink.Some ideas have centered around how to utilize the Community School model to gain resources for our students.Also, with the significant change in personnel at the senior admin level we need to constantly question whether we are working in those areas where we are best qualified to work.9

10I hope this has provided a quick overview of the ongoing budget work that we as a district have before us. This truly is the work of the entire district from our parents and community, to teachers and support staff, to the district staff and trustees. We have a pretty big problem that we can solve if we work together.