Catholic school board needs to borrow from last year to balance the books

The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board will have to balance its 2018-19 budget with $1.16 million from the reserve fund.

The budget presented Monday evening by the boardfor the following school year was passed. The numbers come up to $259.7 million in expenses with $258.6 million in revenue.

Board chairpersonBarbara Holland told CBC News they've had to dip into their reserves by "a small amount." She said otherwise there would be a deficit, in part because of a rise in transportation costs.

"School bus operators across Ontario have not seen an increase in quite some time," Hollandsaid. "This was kind of a first year of what we anticipate to be an ongoing cost for the next five or six years."

Another area the budget needs to account for is the $4.8-million gap between what's needed for special needs education and what the board can receive in funding.

"I think there's more children, is what it all comes down to," she said.

Combining that with the school board's use of an "inclusive model," where students with special needs aren't separated from the rest of the students in order to receive their programs, supports and services, she said, is going to cost more.

The accumulated reserves after the end of this school year is projected to be $13.2 million.

Expanding international program

The board hopes to increase revenue using the international education program. It is expecting $2.3 million in revenue from the program alone only $1.3 million was expected in the 2017-2018 school year.

While it does bring in "additional dollars," Holland said,the program isn't just about increasing revenue.

"What started out as a come and learn from us, very quickly became a look what we can learn from each other," she said.

The school board is hoping to expand the program by looking into other countries perhaps offering student exchanges in the future.

The next school year anticipates international students will contribute $909,448 to the budget.