Some staff cuts will likely be necessary to cut down the Sudbury Catholic District School Board's accumulated $4.2-million deficit, especially in the area of custodial and maintenance services.
This was the conclusion of an audit of the board's finances by chartered accountant Wallace Easton, who shared his findings at the board's March 26 meeting.
But even so, board chair Jody Cameron said the board is attempting to mitigate the impact of the measure on staff and students.
“Every attempt is to use attrition as a means to restructure, and look at other opportunities and other vacancies to fill those voids,” he said. “But there is quite possibly some job losses or layoffs possible, yes.”
Easton's report, which will be implemented by the board, said the facility services department, which includes custodial and maintenance services, exceeds its funding levels by $1.2 million, or roughly 20 per cent.
For example, it has 55 custodians, which is 10 more than it is funded for. Easton recommends cuts to custodial and maintenance staff, as well as administration in the facilities department.
Another area of concern is the number of elementary vice-principals hired by the board. It's only funded for the equivalent of 0.79 elementary vice-principals, but actually hires 6.6 of them, meaning it's $750,000 overbudget in this area.
Easton recommends the number of elementary vice-principals be reduced through attrition until it matches the number funded by the ministry.
He also said the allocation of administrative time for elementary vice-principals be adjusted to more closely align with funding levels, meaning they'd spend more time teaching, and less time on school administration.
The cuts are being made as the Sudbury Catholic board attempts to battle a growing deficit.
Last fall, the board revealed it was running a $2.5-million deficit at the end of the 2011-2012 financial year.
Despite attempts to make mid-year cuts and balance the 2012-2013 budget, Easton said the board will actually run a $1.6 million deficit this year. Added to the $2.5-million deficit from last year, that means the board's accumulated deficit will grow to $4.2 million.
He characterized the in-year recovery plan previously developed by the board, which included $1.2 million in cuts and a $900,000 surplus, as “very optimistic,” and said some of the outcomes weren't even achievable.
Cameron said he's disappointed the board will still run a deficit in 2012-2013, but not surprised.
“I knew that the recovery plan was optimistic,” he said.
“It's very difficult to make changes mid-year. You already have the staffing in place. The enrolment's already been projected. So I knew it was going to be a difficult goal to achieve.”
The recovery plan would see the accumulated deficit eliminated in three years. It would come in at $3.3 million in 2013-2014, $1.4 million in 2014-2015 and be eliminated by 2015-2016.
“After that you should be in good shape, and should accumulate some surpluses,” Easton told trustees.
The Sudbury Catholic board didn't always have financial troubles. In fact, just four years ago, the board had an accumulated surplus of $4.4 million, the report said.
It's putting us on track to have a sustainable budget, one where our revenues are going to meet our expenditures...
Jody Cameron,
chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board
Over the next two years, the board went overbudget by $2.9 million, leaving a $1.5 million surplus in 2011.
Last year's foray into the red came about because of lower-than-expected enrolment at the board's schools, which led to a decrease in provincial grants, and higher-than-budgeted supply teacher and retirement gratuity costs.
Other observations made by Easton in his report include the fact that transportation costs continue to increase, despite declining enrolment.
In fact, the Sudbury Catholic board is paying about $500,000 more than it receives from the province for transportation.
The report recommends the Sudbury Student Services Consortium, the agency responsible for area school bus transportation, be asked to identify opportunities to reduce transportation costs.
Given that incorrect enrolment projections were part of the problem which led to the deficit in the first place, the report recommends the process for projecting enrolment be refined.
Easton also said the Sudbury Catholic board's supplies warehouse is costing $230,000 a year, which could be eliminated if small amounts of supplies were instead delivered directly to schools.
He said most boards “have gotten rid” of their warehouses, and recommends the board review the service delivery model for the warehouse operation.
The report also suggests changes to how the finance department is run, including “that the control and monitoring of actual expenditures be developed to ensure that actual expenditures do not materially exceed the budget.”
As detailed in the report, Cameron said the board actually had a surplus not so long ago, and some of the extra funds to maintain higher service levels.
But perhaps the situation hid the fact that reporting and controls weren't as strong as they should be, he said.
“We had some wiggle room because we had operational surpluses,” Cameron said. “However that surpluses ran out last year. Then we looked and said 'Oh, now we have a deficit? We were surprised by it.'”
He said he's not only confident the budget recovery plan is achievable, he's actually excited about it.
“It's putting us on track to have a sustainable budget, one where our revenues are going to meet our expenditures, and we're able to plan much better.”
Trustee Ray Desjardins expressed some concerns about a few of the recommendations, including the plan to have elementary vice-principals spend more time in the classroom.
He said elementary principals just won't have the same level of support without their second-in-commands.
Given the transportation cost overruns, Desjardins also suggested that perhaps trustees from local school boards should request to sit on the Sudbury Student Services Consortium's board.
