Rainbow District School Board recorded a surplus for the school year ending August 31, 2016. Trustees reviewed and approved the financial statements at the regular meeting of the board Dec. 13.
As a result, the board has added $1.4 million to its accumulated reserves. These funds may be accessed to help the board balance its budget while it continues to align expenses with revenues.
The surplus is due to savings achieved in the budget during the school year and an updated actuarial evaluation of benefit costs.
With the 2015-2016 financial statements now complete, Rainbow District School Board has been able to assess the actual impact of the first year of the Ministry of Education’s School Board Efficiency and Modernization Strategy. The board experienced a reduction of $1.5 million in revenue because of changes in grants.
Financial statements are available online here.
The Rainbow board is currently conducting an accommodation review triggered by a reduction in provincial funding.
At the end of August, the board said it needed to find more than $3.6 million in annual operating savings to offset this provincial revenue decrease.
The board was planning to close up to 12 of its schools, including two high schools.
However, Rainbow has now backed off on its plans to close some of these schools, saying there was an uptick in enrolment which will result in a $1.5 million adjustment in grant revenue from the province.
Rainbow board trustees will decide the fate of the schools under review at a Feb. 7, 2017 meeting.
