Building budgets for schools is about priority setting. And the process, that builds on the groundwork laid in previous years, has to account for everything from student and staff needs in the current year, to planning for growth and change over the course of decades.
Deep consultation with our community and stakeholder groups have gone towards formulating our 5 year strategic plan. As a result of that work, we have now shifted from a state of collecting and understanding the priorities to executing on them … ensuring they’re resourced appropriately, in order to allow us to carry out the work in a meaningful way.
Needs and priorities evolve over time which does sometimes also require re-directing budgets from one area to the next. We also make adjustments based on a few key factors:
- Changes to student enrolment and funding provided from the Province.
- Changes to staffing or school enrolment needs.
- Shifting departmental priorities, which align to the strategic plan.
- Key priorities or targeted projects for the current year.
The 2021-22 school year budget: Investing in kids and community
We are currently developing our 2021-22 budget proposals for the Board of Education’s consideration and approval. This process involves in-depth review and priority assessments (based on our 5 year strategic plan), stakeholder consultations and multiple layers of needs assessments.
We want to hear from you!
New Westminster Schools is honoured to help shape the future of our students and our community, and your valuable input helps ensure our learning environments truly reflect the diverse place we live in. We welcome all students, staff, parents and community members to participate in our budget survey (takes approximately 6 minutes):
Click here to participate in the budget consultation and survey for the 2021-22 school year
Information, reactions and ideas gathered from the survey and from our targeted stakeholder meetings will be combined with our District staff’s work. Cumulatively, that will inform the Superintendent’s recommendations to the Board of Education, on the approval of the 2021-22 budget for the upcoming school year.
Please join us Tuesday, May 11th, at 6:15pm at the Operations, Policy & Planning meeting to see how the Superintendent’s recommendations have taken shape, based in part on your feedback.
What does a typical year and budget look like?
*Above numbers based on previous averages
Targeted priorities for this coming 2021-22 year
Climate Action • Health & Safety • Inclusive Education (Including Anti-Racism Initiatives) • Mental Health & Wellness • Staff Recruitment & Retention • Technology & Infrastructure
Key dates and timelines
While the work to build, execute on and monitor our budgets is an on-going and overlapping process, there’s are also some key timelines and stages.
The key dates for the 2021-22 budget year are as follows.
| Dec-March | District and Board planning and preparation |
| Apr 12-23 | Survey and budget consultation with students, parents, staff and community |
| April 21 | Student symposium (virtual this year) |
| April 19-21 | Meetings with key stakeholder groups (unions, parent groups, students) |
| May 11 | Superintendent’s recommendations presented to the Board & Complete 1st and 2nd reading of budget bylaw. |
| June 30 | Ministry submission deadline for final budget |
For more detailed info on key times: 2021-22 REVISED Budget Process – elaborated timelines and process info
Interested in learning more?
All School Districts’ Statements of Financial Information (SOFI) reports are located here.
All Public Sector Executive Compensation Disclosure Statements are located here.
All Carbon Neutral Reports are located here.
