The Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) will see some additional dollars from the province for the 2017/2018 school year.

Last week the province announced an increase of 1% or $13.1 million dollars for public education funding. However, GVSD Board Chair Laurie Dyck says the funds will come as a result of increased enrollment, and the extra funding will go toward meeting the needs of having additional students.
    
GVSD's increase works out to about an additional $275,000, on a roughly $48-million operating budget.

Dyck says they didn't expect a huge increase to be announced.  "I don't think it was a huge surprise that things were kind of held status quo.  We've heard our provincial government say they're sharpening their pencil...It's money, and we're thankful for that little bit."

Dyck says, unfortunately, though an announcement like this doesn't help with an increase in the cost of living, on things like fuel, and utilities.  "We'll be fine.  We'll just have to be aware of what we're doing and decisions we're making."

In preparation for next year's budget, Dyck adds the GVSD board has scheduled a budget & school exhibition event for Wednesday, February 22, at Winkler's Garden Valley Collegiate.  The exhibition will allow the general public to see demonstrations of the various programs and services offered by the schools in the division, as well as engage the school board in budget planning discussions.

Related article: "Garden Valley School Division Scraps Old Style Budget Consultation"