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Langley school district holds extra funds for future cost pressures

The provincial government redirected $851K to Langley which will be used for potential cost pressures in the future

The provincial government is redirecting $851,770 in administrative savings back to School District 35 to help it deal with local cost pressures and provide front line services for students.

The school district can use this funding as it sees fit – for such items as ongoing classroom programs, hiring new teachers, or for busing.

"We are allocating it to the amended budget to deal with potential cost pressures that may arise," said Langley school district secretary-treasurer David Green.

"An example could be the need to add teachers to schools due to enrolment growth. Another example could be the need to purchase technology that is not in the spring budget to support learning in schools."

On Tuesday, Langley School District held its annual open house for the budget for the upcoming year. The public was invited to view the budget and ask questions of staff. The school district budget is $207,237,020 for the 2016/17 year.

Langley MLA Mary Polak commended District 35 for reducing its administrative costs.

“Langley School District has worked hard to reduce administrative costs and now we can return these savings for front-line services for students,” Polak said.

“Students will benefit from this relief if savings are directed towards supports for classrooms and front-line instruction, as decided by School District 35,” Fort Langley-Aldergrove MLA Rich Coleman said.

The amount of money being left with districts is equal to Year 2 of administrative savings districts were asked to find.

School districts, including District 35, have been informed that they will not have to pay their share of $25 million worth of provincial charges this year, and instead can redirect that money into front-line services for students.



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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