The Rocky View Schools (RVS) Board of Trustees approved the 2023/24 budget development process during the Feb. 9 school board meeting.
The timeline for the development of the 2023/24 operating budget includes budget priorities, fees, department budgets, funding allocation formulas, and considerations for approval.
“We’re waiting for provincial budget at the end of February,” RVS Director of Finance Steve Thomas said.
In March, the RVS budget committee will begin discussions around school fees, impacts, and the outcome of the provincial budget.
“March will be devoted to school administration tasks, reviewing budget priorities with internal departments, finalizing allocation formulas for the schools, and waiting for funding profiles from the ministry of education,” Thomas said. “We are expecting we won’t see the specific impacts of the funding profiles until the end of March.”
Thomas and the budget committee are targeting to open school and departmental budget templates in April.
In May, the proposed school and community use fees, and departmental budgets will be reviewed, before the budget is finalized.
“This is a similar process that we’ve used in the last number of years, we continue to tweak it and adjust it,” Superintendent of Schools Greg Luterbach said. “We try to be respectful of schools and give them sufficient time to work on their budget.”
All of the RVS trustees are involved in the budget committee and continue to be engaged in the budget process.
Ward 3 RVS Trustee Melyssa Bowmen explained that its important administration shares the process and timeline of the budget while highlighting the work of the budget committee.
“There is so much that goes into approving a division-wide budget, the process helps people to recognize the depth of the work that’s going on,” Bowmen said. “I’m comfortable with where we are at as far as the process, and grateful for the work behind it.”
