Grande Prairie Catholic school district balancing books after $25M surplus

Grande Prairie's Catholic school district is cleaning up its budget after recording an accumulated surplus of nearly $25 million last year.

The surplus crept up over several years, said Karl Germann, superintendent of Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools.

"When the budget was prepared, the finance department probably needed to do a more accurate job of reviewing the previous year's expenditures in predicting what the future year's expenditures were," Germann said.

"As a result of that not being done to the level of detail it needed to be, there ended up being an additional surplus."

Finance employees let go

Funding for school districts in Alberta is awarded annually by the provincial government, on a per-student basis.

Last year, the district of less than 5,200 students recorded an accumulated surplus of $24,914,508.

Audited financial statements available on the Alberta Education website show the district's accumulated surplus was $10.2 million in 2013, $13.5 million in 2014, $16.5 million in 2015 and $21.5 million in 2016.

For the year ended Aug. 31, 2017, the district of fewer than 5,200 students recorded an accumulated surplus of $24,914,508.

"It compounded for a couple years," Germann said. "Last year was the one where it was quite significant."

Nearly half the surplus was in the form of tangible capital assets, such as modular classrooms and vehicles the district has bought, he said.

Germann, who has been superintendent since 2004, said the school board didn't realize how much its surplus had grown until budget planning in November 2017, the same month the latest financial statements were released.

"When we all received the budget, it showed that it would be no deficit and no surplus," he said. "But as we were trending through the year, it became apparent that there was going to be more of a surplus.

"Then, as I dug more into that area, it's something that I became aware of and pointed out to my board."

Germann said he believes the problem stemmed from rounding the number of students in the district. The board makes its budgeting decisions based on class and school sizes.

"It happened for a couple of years so changes were made in finance."

Two of the three people working in the finance department have since been let go without cause, he said.

Balancing the budget

An independent consultant and an accountancy and business advisory firm have been hired to help the district balance its budget.

"They don't want to have too large of a surplus because the money that's provided to a school board is really intended to be spent on the kids in that year," Germann said.

"When the government provides you with money, you want to try and just spend as much of it as you can in the current fiscal year so that those kids who have the opportunity or need the opportunity receive those opportunities."

To prevent interruptions in classrooms, teacher-to-student ratios and class sizes are unlikely to change this year, he said.

Some of the surplus has been earmarked for schools the district hopes to open in the next five years, Germann added.

Although the province funds buildings, a district must have between $1 and $2 million set aside to staff, furnish and run each new school.

The district has reported its finances to Alberta Education, Germann said.

In a written statement to CBC News, Education Minister David Eggen said school boards are responsible for decisions about how money is spent on programming.

"Our government has made sure that they have the funding they need to hire teachers, build schools, and help students develop the skills they need," Eggen said. "I encourage all school boards in the province to ensure that funding is directed to the classroom."

Teachers 'frustrated and demoralized'

A teacher with the district says he's frustrated to see the surplus when he struggles to get funding for resources such as educational assistants for students with special needs.

The teacher, who has more than 10 years' experience, asked not to be identified, fearing repercussions from his employer.

"The students aren't getting what they ought to get," he told CBC News. "I've witnessed students who ought to have supports not getting supports. Students who ought to have more support not getting enough."

As class sizes grow, he said, some students aren't getting the attention they need to maintain their grades. They graduate with report cards that can hamper their post-secondary prospects.

He said he has raised his concerns with the board, but was dissatisfied with the response.

"The teachers have been trying to do the best they can for several years now and I think it's taken a toll," he said. "I feel much more frustrated and demoralized."

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Another teacher with the district, who also asked not to be named, said she doesn't want to speculate on how the board makes decisions about money.

She cares about what happens to the boys and girls in her class.

"I'm not involved in that decision-making process," she said. "All I can relate to is what happens in my classroom."

She started the school year with five more students than the limit recommended by Alberta's Commission on Learning, which reported its findings in 2003.

The teacher said she wishes every day for extra help in the classroom. But she said when she asks for support, she is told there is no money to pay for it.

"That is the answer you get — 'Everybody's doing the best they can with the resources they're given.'

"Every day that I get up to go to work, I will advocate how to get more for my students."

@ZoeHTodd