School Board Aims to Cut $2.5 Million

Glen Morrison Wednesday, 16 December 2009 12:11 107.5 KISSFM:

It's not looking like a merry Christmas for the Vernon School District.Board chair Bill Turanski (pictured) says they're into budget discussions, and it looks like the 2010-11 year will include another multi million dollar shortfall. He tells KISS FM, "We predict 135 fewer pupils next year and a shortfall of about $2.5 million.". Turanski says the bulk of that is teachers contract salary increases amounting to over $1.1 million, something the province used to cover. He says after cutting over two million from the current budget there's not much left, but there will have to be a total restructuring. "Probably a lot of it will have to come from support systems we have that we can no longer afford."

For their part, trustees are taking a pay cut, 1.2 percent, based on the decrease in the consumer price index. That works out to about 126 dollars a year per trustee, who are paid $10, 464 a year.