8000 Finance
8001.1 Budget Development, Monitoring and Reporting
Adopted: April 30, 2018
Revised: January 25, 2021
Reviewed: December 14, 2020
Reference: School Act, Part 8, Division 2, Sections 110 to 113 (see below)
Policy
The Board shall, on or before the prescribed date and in accordance with legal requirements, submit to the Minister of Education its annual operating budget for the next fiscal year. The content and form of the annual operating budget shall be as required by relevant legislation and ministry requirements.
The annual operating budget is a statement by the Board, in financial terms, of its plans and priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.
Guidelines/Principles:
1. Budget development and allocations will align with the priorities of the Framework for Enhancing Student Learning and the Board Strategic Plan;
2. To assist in making the budget a comprehensive reflection of educational needs, the Superintendent and/or Secretary-Treasurer shall assure that interested groups in the school system have an opportunity to provide input to the development of the budget. The consultation plan and timeline will be presented to the Board at the January Board meeting by the Secretary-Treasurer;
3. Following the consultation process, the Superintendent and/or Secretary-Treasurer shall present a summary of staff and stakeholder input to the Board;
4. The Secretary-Treasurer will provide quarterly financial updates to the Board throughout the school year;
5. When requested by the Minister of Education, the Board shall prepare a capital budget or plan for such items as the purchase and development of sites, the construction or renovation of school or other buildings, the furnishing and equipping of schools, and the acquisition of other equipment authorized as capital equipment by the Ministry of Education. The capital plan shall be developed in conjunction with the Board’s Long Range Facility Plan. The Board’s expenditures of funds for capital projects are at the discretion of the Minister and are controlled by the provisions of the School Act. When a capital plan is approved by the Minister, the Board shall prepare and adopt a capital bylaw according to the provisions of the School Act.
School Act Reference:
Financial information
110 (1)
On or before March 15 of each year, a board must submit to the minister
(a)
the board’s estimate of the debt service surplus or deficit it will experience in that fiscal year, and
(b)
any other information that the minister requests respecting revenue or other financial matters.
(2)
On or before March 30 of each year, the minister must prepare, approve and provide to each board the estimate of the board’s debt service expenses for the next fiscal year.
(3)
[Repealed 2002-53-37.]
Preparation of annual budget
111 (1)
In this section:
“estimated expenditures” means the estimated expenditures plus any operating deficit that the board must fund in the fiscal year;
“estimated revenues” means the estimated revenues plus appropriated operating reserves.
(2)
The board must prepare an annual budget in the form and containing the content specified by the minister.
(3)
Subject to subsection (4), estimated expenditures in the annual budget must not exceed estimated revenues.
(4)
The estimated expenditures in the annual budget, other than the debt service expenses estimate referred to in section 110, may exceed the estimated revenues if the board has held a referendum under section 112 and the referendum approved the amount in excess of the estimated revenues.
Adoption of budget
113 (1)
A board, by bylaw,
(a)
must adopt an annual budget on or before June 30 of each year for the next fiscal year, and
(b)
may amend the annual budget adopted under paragraph (a).
(2)
If an operating grant to a board is amended under section 106.3 (6) or a grant is withheld or reduced under section 117 (1), the minister may order that
(a)
the board, by bylaw, must amend its annual budget, and
(b)
the board must send a certified copy of the amended annual budget to the minister within 60 days of the order of the minister.
(3)
At the request of the minister, the board must send to the minister a certified copy of its annual budget.