The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board is financially on track.
An update was provided on Thursday night during the board’s monthly meeting and there were a number of pleasant surprises.
The first is that student enrolment is up 30 students this year over what was expected. There were two additional students in elementary school and 28 additional students in secondary schools in the HPEDSB. This is good news for the school board as it means additional funding.
Director of Education Mandy Savery-Whiteway says she expects things will level off in the coming years.
The board also received an update at their meeting as to how their 2018-2019 budget looks in regards to their three-year financial plan.
Trustee Michael Rush, the Chair of Operations and Finance says in his report their grants for student needs funding increased $900,000.
The revised revenue estimates are now $207,380,973 over the previous estimate of $204,951,171.
Revised expenses have also increased from $210,522,739 to $203,877,858.
Nick Pfeiffer, Superintendent of Business Services
Nick Pfeiffer, Superintendent of Business Services said a number of things contributed to this, such as a decrease in salary costs because of new hires, an increase in special education funding and an increase in students.
There was an additional $90,533 in funding for special education per pupil allocation, which allowed for six educational assistants for elementary schools that currently have high special education needs.
These EAs will serve primary students at four schools and primary/intermediate students at two schools.
Pfeiffer said they are tracking very closely to the 2018-2019 approved budget.
Savery-Whiteway says this is good news but there is still half of the school year to go.
Pfeiffer told the board they are looking at an overall surplus of $1.6 million over the projected $1.55 million.
