The Windsor Essex County District School Board may have turned the financial ship around with a $15.3-million accumulated surplus, but don't expect it to go on a spending spree.
That was a lot more than trustees expected, and board chair Barb Holland credits careful spending in all departments. "It's just like Grandma told us, if you watch the nickels and the dimes, the dollars take care of themselves."
The board found savings in most areas including salaries and benefits, which accounts for 82% of the $240-million operating budget. It also found savings in maintenance costs.
Holland says the new board of trustees will develop a strategic plan early in its new term, but it's already made some commitments. Among them, setting aside $1-million in a contingency fund, some of the money will go towards servicing a $14.4-million capital deficit, and the board is already in collective bargaining with some groups. "We don't know how those contracts will turn out. That's pretty well managed by the government but then there's local bargaining that occurs, so we're going to want to set some aside for that."
Two years ago, the Ministry of Education appointed a supervisor after years of deficits, and last year the board managed to turn a projected deficit into a $5.4-million surplus.