The Chinook's Edge School Division is currently on budget in most categories through the first quarter of the fiscal year, trustees heard on Wednesday at their regular meeting.Susan Roy, treasurer of the division, told trustees that an estimated 92 per cent of the division's $108.4 million provincial government revenue has come in at this point. The government will provide actual figures later this month. Other revenue items, such as federal and municipal funding, are currently at lower percentages, but will come in later in the fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31. Only $31,151 or 24 per cent of the expected federal funding has come in at this point, with the remainder to come in later this fiscal year.The division has accumulated 84 per cent of its total revenue at this point, while it has only spent 24 per cent of its budgeted $121 million in expenses. The division hasn't yet spent money on amortization this fiscal year, while it has spent 25 per cent (or $14 million) of its budgeted $56 million on certificated salaries.Overall, the division has spent 24 per cent of its budgeted expenditures to date.Roy said the division made the change to quarterly reporting following the recommendation of the provincial auditor general. In previous years, the board would see the financial update about three times per year as it worked through the budgeting process. Roy said the new reporting structure allows the board to see where the division is at more often in regard to the budget and make any adjustments if any issues arise.ìTheir responsibility in terms of fiscal oversight is to kind of do that monitoring Ö and we're continually trying to improve that process so they have better information to make their decisions,î she said.Division gets increased funding for SupernetCESD will receive additional funding totalling about $39,000 from the provincial government for the division's sites to access the Supernet beginning in January. Currently, the division gets $500 per site to operate and that will be increasing to about $700 per site. But Allan Tarnoczi, associate superintendent of corporate services for CESD, said even though the extra funding is welcome, the division is spending more money on increasing bandwidth. The division currently spends $795 per site for each of its 34 sites.ìOne of the things that's been happening is that the need for bandwidth has been increasing at a very quick rate, so we're finding that even with this increase Ö our schools and their connectedness, particularly to the Internet, is requiring bandwidths that are bigger than that support provides,î he said.The division is also working with bandwidth providers to get the best packages possible to meet the needs of students, Tarnoczi said.
