"Success and Achievement for every Student in every School"

Transcription

1 SOUTH EAST CORNERSTONE School Division No. 209 "Success and Achievement for every Student in every School" OPERATIONAL PLAN AND FINANCIAL BUDGET For the Fiscal Year September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007 Approved by the Board of Education: November 21, 2006 Audrey Trombley - Chairperson Don Rempel - Director/CEO Lionel Diederichs - Superintendent of Finance and Administration

2 OPERATIONAL PLAN & FINANCIAL BUDGET A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD The provided planning and financial summary is a result of the due deliberation of the Board of Education for the South East Cornerstone School Division. This budget provides for the allocation of resources to support the efficient and effective realization of the stated vision of the school division Success and achievement for every student in every school. The Board of Education has established a three year strategic plan as a major component of its leadership vision. It is intended that this plan will provide a flexible blueprint to direct the activities of the Board in its initial three years as a newly amalgamated board of education. The Board sincerely believes that its expressed vision will be acted upon and realized through the work of passionate and committed employees. Likewise, the Board trusts that the budget and allocation of resources reflects the vision and goals of the school division to be realized in 41 public school communities in southeast Saskatchewan. DIRECTOR S REPORT I would like to thank the senior management team, and the Board of Education for their leadership in working through a very difficult and complex budget process this year. The amount of effort on behalf of our school principals, program coordinators and managers, various staff reference committees, and our supporting division office staff in working together to design a new school division Operational Plan and Financial Budget must be recognized. The efforts required, which are considerable, in developing an operational budget which effectively and efficiently serves the needs of 41 school communities was a significant new reality in the day-to-day work life of school principals and division office staff alike over the course of the last several months. The budget of January 1 to August 31, 2006 served to bridge the newly amalgamated school division through the activity of restructuring and the operation of schools for the later half of the school year. This budget is more accurately compared to the last full operational budgets of the 7 former school divisions. Each of these school divisions operated effectively in serving the learning needs of their communities with autonomous boards and locally hired and employed directors of education. The recent restructuring results in a school division of much greater size and complexity; in moving forward, the Board governs and the staff operates with a vision of providing success and achievement for every student in every school. This budget and planning document is representative of the operation and management of a full school year s activity, our first full school and fiscal year as a new school division. Unfortunately difficult decisions had to be made within a context of priority setting and of reflection on the vision, guiding principles and goals of the school division. The challenge for me, for senior management, and for school based administrators will

3 be to operate the system effectively, to find efficiencies wherever possible, and to monitor and report to the Board of Education progress toward the ends statements as expressed through the Board s strategic plan. A wise man once stated, Don t show me your vision statement, show me your budget and I will be able to see your priorities. I am continually reminded of this statement as I work to manage the system and to realize the goals and direction set by our locally elected and autonomous Board of Education. I would like to thank all of those who assisted in building a budget plan that reflects our vision of success and achievement. This first full-year budget will establish a foundation for the future realization of the Board s vision, mission and goals, which are: Vision Statement Our vision is success and achievement for every student in every school. Mission Statement Our mission is to provide passionate committed leadership to ensure success for all. Goals of the Board to Achieve the Vision 1. The school division has established structures for effective governance. 2. The owners of the school division understand and support the goals of the education system. Goals of the System to Achieve the Vision 1. Our students have access to equitable opportunities for learning. 2. Our division and its schools effectively use information to measure, monitor and report continuous improvement. 3. Our staff is productive and successful. I. SYSTEM ACTIVITY & PRIORITIES The system priorities of the fiscal and school year are: To develop processes and supports for gathering and using information to report on school improvement and to report on student learning. To provide equitable teaching and educational support staff levels, fair and equitable school based budgets, professional growth opportunities focused on improving student learning, support for extracurricular opportunities, and provide for student transportation. To establish a pupil to teacher ratio of 16:1 system wide. This will include a range of staffing levels based on school size and program. To engage all employee groups to address equity issues related to common job descriptions, collective agreements and working conditions.

4 To establish equity for public education within the regional tax base of South East Cornerstone School Division. To ensure educational programs and the supporting business operations are more effective and efficient following amalgamation. To establish and support School Community Councils at each school. To gather and use information to plan and monitor program offerings made available to students. To strengthen core technology infrastructure to ensure a foundation for enhanced educational delivery. II. BUDGET & PLANNING PRIORITIES The areas of priority in finance and administration for the fiscal and school year are: Moving toward equity in all areas. Laying foundations for newly established school division: 1. Program planning. 2. Coordination of equitable supports for learning services to schools. 3. Identifying and acting on tough decisions to allow focus on improvements to student learning and school improvement. 4. Providing adequate school based funding, professional growth, and supports to teaching and learning. 5. Providing a solid information systems base for the future. 6. Developing new operations and procedures Managing the supporting business functions of restructuring while ensuring education can continue: 1. Reorganizing administration to ensure uninterrupted support and payments. 2. Planning and continued consolidation of administration operations. 3. Rationalization of staffing. 4. Protecting schools and students as much as possible from negative impacts of the restructuring activities. Fiscal responsibility: 1. Reasonable staffing levels. 2. Appropriate funding levels. 3. Effective and efficient use of resources. 4. Appropriate planning, controls and contingencies. o Effective monitoring and forward planning.

5 Transparency and accountability. Local involvement through community and stakeholder consultation. III. PROGRAM ACTIVITY DESCRIPTORS Equity of Learning Opportunities The system goal of equitable opportunities for learning may be characterized as: (1) Equity in the distribution of resources across different groups of students of the school division. (2) Equity in the access of curriculum choices offered to students of the school division. (3) Similar emphasis on improving the learning outcomes that students will obtain from all schools of the school division; (4) Progress in reducing the contribution of social economic status, gender, ethnicity and so on as explanations of variation of student success and achievement. This year s budget has seen considerable emphasis and progress in addressing these areas. Improving Student Learning ($242,000) Two division initiatives that are gathering and using information to report school improvement and student learning are the Benchmarking Program and the Assessment for Learning Program. The Benchmarking Program provides teachers, schools, and the division with a system that allows the teacher to see how his/her students are learning by using a marking system based on a set of criteria. In this way, teachers are able to see what level of writing or Math problem solving his/her students are able to perform. The power of Benchmarking is that the teacher receives individual student performance feedback so individualized instruction for learning is possible, the school receives school performance feedback which will give the school necessary data to effectively set school performance goals, and the division receives division data so that division performance indicators can be monitored and evaluated. The Benchmarking subjects for are: Math Problem Solving Grades 3, 6, 9, A30; ELA Writing Grades 4, 8; and Science Assessment Grade 7. The Assessment for Learning Program involves using assessment data to improve student learning. The goal of the province is to have assessments in key subject areas which will give teachers a tool to help strengthen the teaching and learning process. The purpose of the program is to promote the use of data, to support the development of professional learning communities, to strengthen the ability of school divisions to report to the public on student learning, and to engage education partners. The province provides school and school division achievement data. The Assessment for Learning areas for are: Math Curriculum Assessment in Grades 5, 8, 11; and Reading Curriculum Assessment in Grades 4, 7, 10.

6 Developing Professional Learning Communities ($159,800) The South East Cornerstone School Division has implemented a division wide initiative that engages all professional staff in a Professional Learning Community. The research is clear the staff engaged in meaningful professional learning communities will improve student learning. The PLC budget supports staff professional development and leadership training. The budget also recognizes some of the transportation costs associated with bringing teachers together to work collaboratively to improve student learning. Student Counseling Services ($91,020) The vision of South East Cornerstone School Division is success and achievement for every student in every school. It is well recognized that students do not learn or achieve well in schools when they have social/emotional difficulties that are inhibiting their progress. Even temporary problems with peer relations or adolescent development can act as real inhibitors to the learning and well being for many students. In order to assist students and schools with such problems our school division employs 10 individuals who trained as social workers and work as school counsellors. Typically our counsellors assist students individually or in groups, plan programs with teachers or administrators, or coordinate service delivery with other agencies. They are also important leaders in the threat-risk assessment process. In many ways the student services counsellors are the key front line workers, helping us implement the school division goal of providing equitable opportunities for learning as well as the provincial priority of ensuring caring and respectful schools through personal and social skills development. Family Counseling Services ($78,280) In spite of our best efforts in the school, we still have a smaller number of students who do not achieve well in school because of the significant challenges in their life outside of school. The key to school success for these students is to provide a strength-based support for their families. Towards this end, our school division employs 6.5 family school liaison counsellors who work directly with families to assist them with issues that will improve the lives of their children especially with regards to school success. While such students have real and significant needs, their issues often fall outside the mandate of other agencies or require more intensive intervention than other agencies can provide. Nevertheless, both the Department of Community Resources and the Sun Country Regional Health Authority partner with South East Cornerstone School Division in the provision of such services to student and families and this includes $119,000 of funding towards the family liaison positions. The work of family liaison counsellors strengthens the opportunities for children and youth who may at times in their lives be vulnerable or at-risk.

7 Special Education ($691,380) The special education budget is designed to address the diverse needs of children and youth in the South East Cornerstone School Division so that every student in every school can attain success and achievement. This principle of equity goes beyond equal treatment to recognizing that, in order to benefit equitably, some students require additional and specialized supports. This means providing comprehensive classroom and school-based supports to meet diverse learning needs. Programming is provided to meet the diverse needs of children aged three years to twenty-one years through pre-kindergarten programs for children who are identified as early entrants, alternative and functional integrated programs, individualized programs and a range of supported environments and services within the kindergarten to grade twelve regular programs. Some of these services include speech language pathology, educational psychology, counselling, specialized consultative services accessed through Saskatchewan Learning and the integration of community-based agency supports as needed. Coordination of these services and other personnel such as curriculum and technology coordinators and consultants within the school division is provided by special education coordinators under the supervision of the Superintendent of Student Services. Collaborative planning that involves teams of teachers, consultants and parents determines the level and intensity of need and supports required for the student to be successful. As the needs of students are identified through this comprehensive system of interventions and assessment, support services, resources, assistive technology and professional development opportunities are provided where needed to meet these diverse needs. The budget is designed to allocate appropriate resources to support a variety of programs, transportation needs, assistive technology, specialized equipment and training needs to support instruction in the schools. Review of Programming and Supports for Students with Emotional and Behavourial Disorders ($35,000) The vision, mission, and guiding principles provide the context for planning and implementing programs and supports for students with a range of needs and gifts. The school division has identified the need for further information on student behavioural needs within the division, current practices for preventing and responding to emotional and behavioural problems, and recommended effective practices. A review of programming and supports for students with emotional and behavioural disorders was undertaken to gather information that will assist school division personnel to: Develop a systematic process for identifying needs of students with emotional and behavioural disorders and difficulties. Develop a continuum of interventions that: (a) is systematic yet flexible and (b) provides equity in supports available to students across the school division.

8 Three major components of the review project were identified: A review of current practices for assessment, programming and supports for students with behaviour disorders. A literature review to identify evidence-based effective practices for prevention and intervention for behaviour disorders. A final report including summary of findings and recommendations. A summary of the current needs and practices as well as recommendations were provided in December of Activity in response to the summary of findings, best practices from the literature review, and the recommendations will begin in January of Driver Education ($299,303) The driver education budget covers instruction for 760 students. Students who have reached their 15 th birthday by March 31 of the current school year are eligible to enroll in the fall for instruction. We currently have four contractors and one employee providing in-class and in-car instruction. Athletics ($550,000 divisional) Providing equitable opportunities is based on a philosophy that participation in school athletics is part of each student s educational experience. We have students participating in 10 sports at all levels from the school to the provincial level. The South East Cornerstone School Division also forms the greatest percentage of the South East Sports District. This means that our division will send several teams to participate in the provincial athletics events. This budget supports basic sports participation for all students in all schools and teams that advance to the provincial playoffs. Transportation costs represent a significant portion of the budget. The South East Cornerstone School Division supports a 60% FTE athletics commissioner. School based and senior administration strongly support this position. A dedicated athletics commissioner has protected instructional contact time by reducing the required teacher-coach time away from classes and provided essential leadership in the administration and development of athletics schedules, guidelines and procedures. Safe Schools and Safe Communities Initiative ($40,000) Promoting a safe school environment is a priority for students, staff and parents. The Safe Schools and Safe Communities Initiative is intended to support the Board s Guiding Principles, Goals and Administrative Procedures. The initiative also aligns with Saskatchewan Learning s Caring and Respectful Schools Programs. The current budget is intended to support staff training in Threat Risk Assessment and to provide schools with resources for responding to Traumatic Events. Promoting Safe Schools and Safe Communities is the responsibility of many stakeholders.

9 School Community Councils ($65,000) In response to the Board of Education s system goals, provincial priorities and local school needs, South East Cornerstone School Division will be establishing School Community Councils. School Community Councils are an integral component of school division governance. They strive through their membership and their actions to be representative of all students attending the school and recognize that all members of the community can make a difference in the learning success and well-being of children and youth. In their activities, School Community Councils engage in processes to ensure all voices in the school community are heard and all perspectives are taken into account. School Community Councils recognize the importance of both lay and professional perspectives within the community and strive to appreciate all viewpoints. School Community Councils focus their attention and efforts on key matters that make a difference in student learning and well-being. Keeping in mind their understandings related to their own unique school communities, councils align their work with provincial and school division goals and initiatives related to student learning and well-being outcomes. School Community Councils are committed to fulfilling their role as a vital link in school level governance. Councils will evaluate their performance regularly, take advantage of opportunities to build their capacity, and account to the public they represent and the Board of Education on their progress. School-Based Administrators Professional Development ($200,375) The budget covers both program-related and professional development costs for school-based administrators. They are the most essential element in the school division s leadership team and regular meetings to foster communication, develop procedures, and improve administrative skills are vital to having smoothly-run schools with high quality learning environments. Program-related costs include expenses (substitutes, travel, meals and accommodation costs) for administrators meetings, division in-services, and the administrators council that serves as a local professional leadership group in providing input to the senior management team and a voice for school-based administrator issues. It also covers expenses for a June retreat for the administrators. Professional development activities covered by this year s budget include the annual Saskatchewan Council of Educational Administrators on leading School Community Councils and the Assessment for Learning Conference on leadership for learning (64 attended) held in Saskatoon in the fall of Curriculum Actualization and Renewal ($1,081,800) Teachers will continue to work on actualizing the delivery of Saskatchewan s provincial curriculum. Renewal of the Arts Education K-5, English Language Arts 6-9 and Science 10 curriculums will require revitalization workshops for teachers and the purchase of school based and division resource materials. Workshops are also planned to provide teachers opportunities to become familiar with the problem-solving approach to mathematics, and the use of manipulative and collegial learning opportunities.

10 Teacher Professional Growth and Development ($853,000) The school division has developed a new professional growth and evaluation policy to provide for the continuous growth of teachers professional practice. It is essential that the art of teaching develops beyond a practitioner level to that of a profession. Opportunities for teachers to work with school based colleagues, to meet with school division colleagues in structured professional learning communities, and to access professional development and educational research opportunities outside of the school division are made available through this budget area. In providing opportunities for reflective practice, provision for teachers to return to school for graduate and post - graduate level training and research, and access to high quality professional training and development the status quo becomes one in which inquiry into best practices in teaching and learning becomes in-bedded in the day to day work of teachers. Band Program ($154,900) The school division has a total of nine band programs with 1109 students enrolled during the current school year. Five of the programs are coordinated by itinerant band directors and four are single school-based programs. The band budget covers learning resource and music material, equipment supply and repair costs, capital equipment purchases, clinic/festival costs, expenses for band directors for band tours, a small division band travel subsidy and transportation costs for division band practices and school concert tours. Fine Arts / Student Activities ($34,400) This budget covers expenses and substitute teacher costs for teachers for the annual Student Leadership Conference as well as regional and provincial drama and music competitions. It also covers the annual SOCAN music license and the license for the web-based "Tell Them From Me" program that enables students and parents from the Estevan and Weyburn Comprehensive schools to provide feedback on their schools to school administrators and teachers. Instructional Technology ($614,500) Technology in the South East Cornerstone School Division has been divided into two sides, the Information Systems side and the Instructional Technology side. The Instructional Technology side consists of three technology consultants all of whom are teachers, overseen by a technology coordinator who is also a teacher. Instructional Technology provide for software costs for specialized applications used in instruction and instructional support services. The goal of Instructional Technology is to provide leadership and support to teachers in the field in all areas of technology use. Specific short and long term goals include: Expanding online distance education to improve course access to students. Providing instructional technology in-service to classroom teachers.

11 Providing support to teachers of special needs students regarding assistive technologies. Providing for the increased engagement of parents in ensuring their child s development success. Developing a division wide technology scope and sequence strategic plan. Reviewing and selecting software to enhance instruction and learning. Working with Information Systems to provide software, hardware and infrastructure recommendations. Human Resources and Employee Relations ($69,600 & 1 FTE Staff) Various employee groups have been engaged in job description development processes this fall. Educational assistants, secretaries, principals, coordinators, consultants, speech pathologists and custodians have contributed to the development of South East Cornerstone School Division common job descriptions for their respective groups. Further meetings will be held in January and February to complete the development process with the remaining employee groups. A tentative agreement has been reached with SEIU in the Weyburn area. This includes support staff who were previously covered under separate SEIU agreements in Sunrise schools within Weyburn, WCS and the old Prairie View School Division. CUPE (former Souris Moose Mountain, newly certified Moosomin and ECS EAs) negotiations are currently under way and should be concluded prior to the end of the 2006/07 school year. This includes custodians, bus drivers, educational associates, secretaries, library technicians, family liaison workers, etc. Division administration met with Estevan area educational associates, on request of that group, regarding working conditions. The educational assistants in the Estevan area as well as those in the former South Central School Division are organizing a non-union group which would represent those employees in discussions of working conditions. Discussion with this employee group will begin in the new year. Working condition discussions will continue with employee groups, both union and nonunion, as the needs arise. A Superintendent of Education has assigned duties in the area of human resources and the school division has created a position of Manger of Employee Relations to support the effective operation of the school division in responding to employee needs. The teacher bargaining committee will meet with the division bargaining team in mid January to begin training in an interest based bargaining process facilitated by Saskatchewan Justice. Costs for the facilitator will be shared between the Board and the South East Cornerstone Teachers Association.

12 In May of 2007 the Board of Education has requested a monitoring report on the system goal our employees are productive and successful. The Director of Education is responsible for the interpretation of the goal and the provision of supporting data. It is anticipated that staff will be engaged early in 2007 to develop school division 'Indicators of Staff Productivity' and related 'Indicators of Success;' to provide findings that indicate staff productivity and measure success related to the vision, mission and values of the system; and to provide for a statement of compliance or non-compliance from the findings. In May the Board of Education will determine if the monitoring report is to be found acceptable or non-acceptable and administration may provide recommendations for future action. School Based Funding ($2,068,582) The Division believes that student success and achievement is enhanced by appropriate decision making being located nearest to the school. To enhance school based decision making, the division provides funding to schools to allocate within stated areas. A new formula was developed to allocate the school based funding allocation provided by the division. A committee of school administrators met several times to develop a new allocation formula for use in this fiscal year. That committee will continue to meet to adjust the formula as the activities at the schools develop as part of the new division. School based budgets are intended to support the purchase of supplies and services supporting administration and education at the school. It also is intended to support student activities outside of the main educational program. School Based Staffing a) School Based Staffing Factors A system wide target of 16:1 pupil teacher ratio was applied in development of the staffing formula. Additional professional staff for intensive needs and the adjustment factor for transition to this formula result in a lower system pupil teacher ratio of Equity Factor 1:21.75 (one teacher for every students). Special Education Diversity Factor 1:200. One full time equivalent special education teacher was allocated for every 200 students in the school. Small School Subsidy Factor -Small K-12 schools were staffed to a minimum of 6.5 teachers and consideration for small K-9 offerings (< 100 students) through extra teacher staffing was provided. Seventeen (17) additional teaching staff were allocated to support programs offered in small school settings.

13 Administration administrative release time for principals and vice-principals was provided at 8% multiplied by number of teachers. Unassigned time was allocated at a level of an additional 10% for each teacher assigned to the school. b) Intensive Needs and Local Programming Additional resources were provided to schools to recognize intensive student needs (in addition to the special education diversity factor) at the school level. Intensive needs are determined through a collaborative process overseen by qualified special education staff. It was recommended that a balance of professional and support staff be determined based on local conditions and student needs. c) Adjustment for Transition to Uniformity In application of the equitable staffing formula for this year it was determined that no school should receive greater than a two (2) FTE teacher reduction from the end of 2006 to the start up in the fall. This decision resulted in a lower system pupil to teacher ratio than would be expected by application of this formula and resulted in approximately ten (10) additional full time equivalent teachers. IV. SIGNIFICANT ISSUES FOR THIS BUDGET 1. Provincial Operating Grant Changes. The provincial government provides funding to school divisions in addition to the local tax revenue that school divisions levy. As described in the previous budget document, as a result of the amalgamation of the former divisions, the formula used by Saskatchewan Learning provides South East Cornerstone School Division with significantly less grant funding than the total of the former school divisions received. The negative grant position of some of the former boards negatively impacted the formula calculation of the new division s grant. The full impact of that reduction will be felt in this first full year budget developed by the new division. As indicated in the prior period budget, those reductions are estimated at $3 million. Further impacts on grant funding resulted from the move in the current provincial budget year to eliminate the differential funding between the two major cities and the school divisions in rest of province. Until this provincial fiscal budget, School divisions outside of the two major urban centers received more per student funding than did those in the two major centers. The change provided more funding to those major urban school divisions out of the provincial funding pool with the resulting less funding available for distribution to the remaining divisions than under the former differential system. The amount of that impact on this division has not yet been determined.

14 The province will continue to make changes to the provincial funding formula that could reduce the amount this division will receive. There is provincial consideration for providing extra funding for divisions with dispersed student populations and large geographic areas to recognize the additional costs in those environments. Some of these changes may be implemented for the next provincial budget year and could offset some of the reductions from other changes to the grant allocation. 2. Taxation. The province had previously provided property tax relief through the Provincial Education Property Tax Credit Program. Taxpayers education tax was reduced by 8% due to this program. In this year the program provided an extra 30% for property tax relief on agricultural property only. The program provides direct relief to property owners to reduce the tax charged by school divisions. The province paid an amount directly to school divisions to replace the amount of tax reduced at the municipal level. This funding did not provide additional funding for school divisions to reduce their tax levy. It in essence provided that the province would pay part of the tax levy of school divisions. 3. New challenges in revenue estimation and mill rate setting. This is the first full-year budget developed by Saskatchewan school divisions using the new fiscal period. Although it provides improved budget planning capability for expenditures as it now covers one full operational cycle instead of parts of two, it creates significantly increased challenges in estimating the amounts of revenue from each major revenue source. In prior years, the provincial budget and associated funding levels for education were known at that time school division budgets were set. Relatively accurate assessment details were available from the majority of municipalities. With that information, budgeted revenue requirements could be converted into local taxation requirements and, therefore, a mill rate could be set at the time of the budget. Under the new environment, school divisions do not know what 30% of their grant revenue will be. In addition, the budget cycle is much in advance of the time when many municipalities can provide assessment information with certainty. Under this situation, no mill rate is set along with the budget. The mill rate will be set at same time as it had previously following the provincial budget in the spring of the following year. The budget does project revenues sources in spite of these conditions using historical information for grant funding and assessment. However, given the estimations for grant and assessment and the additional environment of change in the provincial funding formula, the division anticipates that the actual amounts of revenue estimated to come from its two major sources could differ significantly from those estimated in this budget document.

15 4. Preparing for increased Accountability The school division is moving to create a higher level of accountability in achieving higher student outcomes and in their financial affairs. To accommodate the financial information needs for that development, the budgeting systems have changed to provide for the budgeting and accounting for resources used in specific instructional activities in the division. Clear and direct responsibility for budget planning and management in these activity areas has been created. Information systems are being acquired and implemented to provide the necessary data capturing and information reporting capability to support enhanced accountability. 5. Transportation and Facilities To provide resources for the focus on effective direct instructional and support activities within a reasonable revenue environment, budget areas of indirect supporting activities were reduced to a minimum. Although those amounts provide sufficient resources to operate in the short term, there is insufficient funding to ensure the sustainability of capital assets of those supporting functions in the long term. The Student Transportation and Physical Plant budgets do not provide sufficient resources to restore, replace and maintain capital assets at a level that ensures those assets will be available to support instruction in the longer term. The division will be engaging in activities to identify the resources and activities needed to ensure that the necessary assets are available for the long term to support student learning. 6. Information Systems The resources provided in this budget for Information Systems is insufficient to ensure that the necessary secure and dependable infrastructure exists to support Instructional Technology, system accountability and efficiency goals. Strategic Planning in Instructional Technology and efficiently planning in supporting business areas over the next period will provide the basis for Information Systems development of an effective and efficient plan to ensure that needed infrastructure and systems are in place to support those goals and to enhance business efficiency. Information Systems supports over 3,000 workstations, the networking systems and the security for both education and business system needs in the school division. 7. Continuing Costs of reorganization and development of a new system Much cost of the reorganization required for amalgamation was done in the June 15 th, 2005 to August 31, 2006 period. However, much more work remains to consolidate the activities of the former divisions and to develop appropriate organization for the new division. The Human Resources department continues to work at rationalizing agreements and compensation for employee groups in the new division. Further development is needed to support new Continuous Improvement Framework. The implementation of School Community Councils also continues. Facility and organization rationalization continue.

16 V. FINANCIAL BUDGET This budget provides for $74,353,599 in expenditures. It represents an annualized increase in expenditure of 3.46% from the 2005 consolidated total of the former school divisions. The total for the time period from 2005 until this budget is an increase of 5.77% The estimated amount of revenue from provincial grants and local taxation is based on status of assessment and grant funding for the prior period. As described earlier in this document, the actual revenue source amounts should be expected to be considerably different. Grant revenue will be finalized with the provincial budget in the spring of The local taxation amount will based on the amounts not covered by provincial grant funding and other revenues of the division and on the actual assessments at that time.

17 South East Cornerstone School Division No. 209 Budgeted Statement of Financial Activities and Fund Balances September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007 post Bdgt 2006 Mill Rate Blended Rate Wage Adjsuts 2007 Mill Rate page 1 Operating Capital Other Current 2005 Adjusted Change Fund Fund Funds Budget Consolidated $'s % REVENUES Property Taxation 54,843,388-54,843,388 50,415,978 4,427, % Grants 7,054, ,900 7,525,130 10,930,429 (3,405,299) % Tuition and Related Fees 3,010,000 40,000 3,050,000 3,266,389 (216,389) -6.62% Complementary Services 9,970,092-9,970,092 4,072,194 5,897, % External Services 225, , ,814 1, % Other 291, , ,759 (568,820) % Total Revenues 75,394, ,900-75,905,549 69,769,563 6,135, % EXPENDITURES Governance 592, , ,417 (26) 0.00% Administration 1,424,443 8,500 1,432,943 1,634,913 (201,970) % Instruction 51,649,194 1,970,875 53,620,069 49,704,301 3,915, % Plant 8,206,242 1,015,229 9,221,471 9,663,872 (442,401) -4.58% Transportation 5,942, ,000 6,487,807 6,093, , % Tuition and Related Fees 924, ,000 1,079,296 (155,296) % Complementary Services 616, , , , % External Services 350, , ,689 46, % Interest and Bank Charges 625, ,216-1,108, , , % Total Expenditures 70,330,779 4,022,820-74,353,599 70,297,593 4,056, % Excess(Deficiency) of Revenue 5,063,870 (3,511,920) - 1,551,950 (528,030) over Expenditure Interfund Transfers to (from) for Capital Expenditures for Debt Repayment (1,319,408) 1,319,408 - for Reserves 490,229 - (490,229) Excess (Deficiency) 4,234,691 (2,192,512) (490,229) 1,551,950 (528,030) after Interfund Transfers Long Term Capital Debt Issued - - Long Term Capital Debt Repaid (1,319,408) (1,319,408) (1,335,048) (15,640) Surplus(Deficit) for the Year 4,234,691 (3,511,920) (490,229) 232,542 (1,863,077) 2,095,619 Restated Opening Fund Balances 3,402,819-4,186,130 7,588,949 9,383,096 Closing Fund Balances 7,637,510 (3,511,920) 3,695,901 7,821,491 7,520,019

18 South East Cornerstone School Division No. 209 Budgeted Expenditure by Function and Economic Classification September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007 page 2 post Bdgt Function Classification Salaries Benefits Goods & Services Debt Service Capital Expenditures Reserves and Surplus Total Governance 155, , ,391 Administration 802,949 91, ,284 8,500 1,432,943 Instruction 42,633,253 2,264,017 6,751,924 1,970,875 53,620,069 Plant and Maintenance 2,710, ,018 5,133,983 1,015,229 9,221,471 Transportation 1,926, ,413 3,686, ,000 6,487,807 Tuition and Related Fees Complementary Services - 924, , ,152 53, , ,145 External Services 118,316 18, , ,557 Interest and Bank Charges 1,108,216 1,108,216 Total Expenditures 48,791,731 3,118,471 17,795,577 1,108,216 3,539,604 74,353,599 Debt Principal Repayment 1,319,408 1,319,408 Reserves/Surplus 232, ,542 Total Allocation of 48,791,731 3,118,471 17,795,577 2,427,624 3,539, ,542 75,905,549

19 South East Cornerstone School Division No. 209 Budgeted Revenues by Type Budget Year page 3 post Bdgt 2005 Property Revenue 71% Provincial Property Tax Credit 6% Other 2% Tuition and Related Fees 5% Operating Grants 16% Property Revenue 72% Provincial Property Tax Credit 13% Other 1% Tuition and Related Fees 4% Operating Grants 10%

20 South East Cornerstone School Division No. 209 Assessment to Tax Analysis Based on Tax Year 2006 page 4 post Bdgt Assessment to Tax Analysis FV Assessment Taxable Assessment Tax - Net of PEPTC Agricultural Residential Commercial/Industrial Fair Value Assessment is determined by SAMA based on provincial guidelines and policies to provide comparative assessment values for similar property types. Taxable Assessment is calculated by multiplying Fair Value Assessment by provincially determined percentages of value. Tax - Net of PEPTC is the amount of taxes the property owner pays after the levy is reduced by the Provincial Property tax Credit The Chart represents each property type's proportion of the total for each item noted in the chart. Agricultural property has 42.60% of the total Assessment in the school division, 29.44% of the Taxable Assessment and 23.23% of the net taxes. Residential property has slightly above 20% of each Category. Commercial/Industrial category has 36.28% of Fair Value Assessment, 50.13% of the Taxable Assessment ad 54.58% of the Tax-Net of PEPTC. The taxes that individual owners pay can be further adjusted by Mill Rate Factors determined at the local level.

21 South East Cornerstone School Division No. 209 Budgeted Expenditures by Function Budget Year page 5 post Bdgt 2005 Instruction 70.71% Governance 0.84% Administration 2.33% Plant 13.75% Interest 1.33% Other Services 2.38% Transportation 8.67% Instruction 72.11% Governance 0.80% Administration 1.93% Plant 12.40% Interest 1.49% Other Services 2.54% Transportation 8.73%

22 South East Cornerstone School Division No. 209 Budgeted Expenditure by Economic Object Budget Year page 6 post Bdgt 2005 Salaries 67.35% Benefits 4.94% Capital Expenditures 2.13% Debt Service 1.33% Goods & Services 24.25% Salaries 64.48% Benefits 4.12% Goods & Services 23.52% Capital Expenditures 4.68% Debt Service 3.21%

23 South East Cornerstone School Division No. 209 Details of Budgeted Revenues September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007 Current Budget page 7 post Bdgt 2005 Adjusted Consolidated Property Taxation Revenue Operating Fund Tax Revenue: Property Tax Revenue (net Education Tax Credit ) 55,108,388 50,918,088 Revenue from Supplemental Levies - 9,242 Total Property Tax Revenue 55,108,388 50,927,330 Grants in Lieu of Taxes: Federal Government 275, ,423 Provincial Government 250, ,276 Railways 150, ,751 Other 250, ,237 Total Grants in Lieu of Taxes 925, ,687 Treaty Land Entitlement 65,000 70,008 House Trailer Fees 45,000 51,636 Additions to Levy: Penalties 300, ,719 Other - 2,687 Total Additions to Levy 300, ,406 Deletions from Levy: Discounts (1,500,000) (1,724,143) Cancellations (100,000) (208,695) Other Deletions - (8,251) Provision for Uncollectible Taxes - - Total Deletions from Levy (1,600,000) (1,941,089) Total Operating Property Tax Revenue to Summary 54,843,388 50,415,978 Other Funds Tax Levy: Special Tax Levy - - Total Other Funds Property Tax Revenue to Summary - - Total Property Taxation Revenue to Summary 54,843,388 50,415,978 Grants: Operating Fund Department of Learning Grants: Foundation Operating Grant 6,554,230 9,460,770 Other Department Grants 500,000 1,098,491 Total Department Grants 7,054,230 10,559,261 Other Provincial Grants - 232,696 Federal Grants - - Grants from Others - - Total Operating Fund Grants To Summary 7,054,230 10,791,957 Capital Fund Capital Grants 470, ,472 Total Capital Fund Grants to Summary 470, ,472

24 Total Grants to Summary 7,525,130 10,930,429 South East Cornerstone Details of Budgeted Revenues (Cont'd) September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007 page 8 Current Budget 2005 Adjusted Consolidated Tuition and Related Fees Revenue Operating Fund Tuition Fees: School Boards 2,100,000 2,031,190 Federal Government and First Nations 850, ,527 Individuals and Other 25,000 8,600 Total Tuition Fees 2,975,000 3,011,317 Transportation Fees 35, ,283 Other Related Fees - 81,588 Total Operating Fund Tuition and Fees to Summary 3,010,000 3,215,188 Capital Fund Federal/First Nations Capital Fees 40,000 51,201 Total Capital Fund Tuition and Fees to Summary 40,000 51,201 Total Tuition and Related Fees Revenue to Summary 3,050,000 3,266,389 Complementary Services Operating Fund Saskatchewan Learning Grants: Foundation Operating Grant 173,104 - Property Tax Credit 9,648,988 3,920,466 Other - 137,000 Other Provincial Grants - 5,812 Federal Grants - - Other Grants 143,000 - Tuition Fees: Tuition Fees-First Nations 5,000 - Tuition Fees-Individuals and Other Parties - - Transportation Fees: - - Other Related Fees: Other Related Fees-School Divisions - 4,716 Misc. Revenue: - - Food Sales - - Sale of Materials - - Rentals - 4,200 Sale of Non-Capital Assets - - Other Sales and Rentals Revenue - - Total Operating Fund Complementary Services Revenue 9,970,092 4,072,194 to Summary Capital Fund Total Capital Fund Complementary Services Revenue - - to Summary Total Complementary Services Revenue to Summary 9,970,092 4,072,194

25 South East Cornerstone Details of Budgeted Revenues (Cont'd) September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007 page 9 Current Budget 2005 Adjusted Consolidated External Services Operating Fund Foundation Operating Grant - - Other Saskatchewan Learning Grants - - Other Provincial Grants - - Federal Grants - - Other Grants - - Tuition Fees: - - Transportation Fees: - - Other Related Fees: - - Misc. Revenue: - - Food Sales 200, ,054 Sale of Materials - - Rentals 25,000 17,972 Sale of Non-Capital Assets - - Other Sales and Rentals Revenue - - Total Operating Fund External Services Revenue to Summary 225, ,814 Capital Fund - - Total Capital Fund External Services Revenue to Summary - - Total External Services Revenue to Summary 225, ,814 Other Revenue Operating Fund Miscellaneous Revenue 110, ,522 Sales & Rentals 131, ,706 Investments 50,000 66,451 Total Operating Fund Other Revenue to Summary 291, ,678 Capital Fund Miscellaneous Revenue - - Sales & Rentals - 123,639 Investments - 3,442 Total Capital Fund Other Revenue to Summary - 127,080 Other Funds Miscellaneous Revenue - Investments - Total Other Funds Other Revenue to Summary - - Total Other Revenue to Summary 291, ,759

26 South East Cornerstone School Division No. 209 Details of Budgeted Expenses September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007 Current Budget page 10 post Bdgt 2005 Adjusted Consolidated Governance Expenses Operating Fund Board Members Expense 160, ,082 Conventions - Board Members 70,048 93,928 Local Boards/Advisory Committees 114,582 31,914 Conventions - Local Boards/Advisory Committees - 4,347 Elections Other Governance Expenses 247, ,898 Total Operating Fund Governance Expenses to Summary 592, ,417 Capital Fund Capital Equipment - - Total Capital Fund Governance Expenses to Summary - - Total Governance Expenses to Summary 592, ,417 Administration Expenses Operating Fund Salaries 802,949 1,003,846 Benefits 91, ,039 Supplies/Services 192, ,168 Non-Capital Equipment 80,500 42,642 Building Operating Expenses 86, ,807 Communications 105, ,652 Travel 65,764 19,535 Professional Development - 8,401 Total Operating Fund Administration to Summary 1,424,443 1,631,089 Capital Fund Capital Equipment 8,500 3,824 Total Capital Fund Administration to Summary 8,500 3,824 Total Administration Expenses to Summary 1,432,943 1,634,913

27 South East Cornerstone Details of Budgeted Expenses (Cont'd) September 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007 page 11 Current Budget 2005 Adjusted Consolidated Instruction Expenses Operating Fund Instructional Salaries: Instructional Salaries 36,617,643 36,093,427 Total Instructional Salaries 36,617,643 36,093,427 Instructional Benefits 1,494,641 1,867,637 Non-Teacher Support Salaries 6,015,610 5,688,788 Non-Instructional Support Benefits 769, ,988 Instructional Aids 2,572,691 1,584,942 Supplies and Services 1,306, ,617 Non-Capital Equipment 629,785 1,485,583 Communications 369, ,022 Travel 1,436, ,232 Professional Development - 510,690 Student Related Expense 436, ,008 Total Operating Fund Instruction to Summary 51,649,194 49,584,933 Capital Fund Capital Equipment 1,970, ,368 Total Capital Fund Instruction to Summary 1,970, ,368 Total Instruction Expenses to Summary 53,620,069 49,704,301 Plant Operation & Maintenance Expenses Operating Fund Salaries 2,710,241 2,339,245 Benefits 362, ,344 Supplies/Services 87, Non-Capital Equipment 51,725 58,996 Building Operating Expenses 4,912,141 5,935,467 Communications 13,444 49,809 Travel 69,250 69,579 Professional Development - 2,056 Total Operating Fund Plant & Maintenance to Summary 8,206,242 8,858,221 Capital Fund Capital Equipment and Building Costs 1,015, ,651 Total Capital Fund Plant & Maintenance to Summary 1,015, ,651 Total Plant Operation & Maintenance Expenses to Summary 9,221,471 9,663,872