The last of the 2017/18 financial statements have been closed out, and Border Land School Division is reporting operating expenses for the year came in under budget by 3.5 percent.

According to Rachel Geirnaert, BLSD secretary-treasurer, a number of factors contributed to the extra $1.25 million. "A budget is the best estimated that we can make based on past experience and given the information we have at a point in time," she explained.

Salaries and benefits, which were budgeted to make up $27 million of the $35 million budget that year, ended up coming in $800,000 under budget. Geirnaert said this was thanks to unfilled positions within BLSD, staff being lower on the pay grid than the average salary used for budgeting and the estimation of maternity leave top-up.

The Board of Trustees also chose to delay updates to the Division's servers and firewalls until 2018/19 in anticipation of new technology on the horizon. This change in plans added another $100,000 to the technology line in the budget for 2017/18.

Additionally, the cost of providing professional development opportunities came in $90,000 less than projected. Not all teachers attended Summer Institute which resulted in less day-in-lieu payments, and in some cases, certain sessions that were anticipated at budget time did not come to fruition during the year.

As for what the Board has decided to do with this surplus, Geirnaert said trustees were quite thoughtful about the reallocation process. As a result, the extra funds have been deposited into a trio of capital reserve accounts in a move that has been approved by the Province through the Public Schools Finance Board.

$800,000 will be used to purchase new school buses in the future. Buses in Border Land School Division travel in excess of 1 million km each year and therefore depreciate quickly. This wear-and-tear forces the Division to refresh its fleet each year by purchasing 2 to 4 buses.

"Given the budget cuts for the 2018/19 school year, we had depleted our bus reserve with the purchase of two buses in July 2018. We have now been able to replenish that reserve without having to tax for it in the 2019/20 budget," explained Geirnaert.

$200,000 has been set aside to pay for upgrades and replacements to aging RRTVA facilities and equipment within BLSD.

Finally, $250,000 is being earmarked for additional classroom space at an over-crowded Ecole Elmwood School in Altona. There are currently 300 students enrolled at the school, filling it to capacity.

While a request has been made for the province to provide another modular classroom at the school, Geirnaert says should it get denied, PSFB has approved the board's request to be prepared at the local level to add extra space if needed.