VICTORIA - Education Minister Peter Fassbender will appoint an independent special advisor to review, evaluate and make recommendations aimed at helping the recently elected Vancouver Board of Education to balance its budget, reduce overhead and find administrative efficiencies, while protecting and enhancing resources for student instruction.

The special advisor will be an auditor leading a team that will look at the school district’s budget development and forecasting, accumulated surpluses, capital asset management, opportunities for administrative savings, and board governance. In addition, the special advisor will review past audit, special advisor and management consulting reports provided to the board or the minister over the past five years and any actions taken on past recommendations.

The decision to appoint a special advisor comes after the board wrote to the Minister of Education and Minister of Finance in February to advise they project a minimum budget shortfall of $15 million for the 2015-16 school year. Under the School Act, boards of education are required to submit a balanced budget to the ministry by June 30.

Over the past two decades, the Vancouver Board of Education has publicly forecasted large deficits but has consistently ended the school year with a surplus. As of June 30, 2014, they held an accumulated surplus of $28.4 million, which is equivalent to 6% of total district expenditures.

BC Budget 2015 provides an additional $421 million in funding to public schools over the next three years, including a 33% increase to the Learning Improvement Fund. Boards will receive $121 million more in fiscal 2015-16, pushing total public school funding to $5.06 billion - up 31% since 2001 while student enrolment has declined by more than 75,000 students over the same period.

To ensure tax dollars are being used wisely and that every available education dollar is going to student instruction, school districts are tasked with finding $29 million in administrative savings in 2015-16, similar to recent efficiency targets in the health and post-secondary sectors.

Quotes:

Peter Fassbender, Minister of Education -

“We have significant new funding going to school districts this year. At the same time, to ensure every available tax dollar is going to student instruction, we need districts to stay focussed on balancing their budgets and finding administrative savings and efficiencies.”

“We appreciate that setting a budget can be challenging and we want all boards of education to be successful.”

“Having an independent third party come in to develop options and strategies can be of great benefit. At the end of the day, this is about making sure the newly elected Vancouver board of education has the best possible information on which to make budget decisions.”

A backgrounder follows.

Media Contacts:

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Education
250 356-5963

BACKGROUNDER

Advisor to assist Vancouver Board of Education

Terms of reference - special advisor
School District #39

The purpose of this appointment is to assist the board of education in meeting its obligations to balance their budget, find administrative efficiencies, reduce overhead, optimize the use of capital assets and improve educational services to students.

More specifically the special advisor is to review, inspect, evaluate and, as appropriate, make recommendations in a report to the minister regarding the school district’s:

• board governance and effective fiscal management;
• budget development processes;
• financial forecasts and position;
• capital asset management program; and
• opportunities to reduce overhead, find administrative efficiencies, and maximize revenue.

Within the context of the current legal and fiscal framework for British Columbia’s public education system, the special advisor will review, evaluate and, as appropriate, make recommendations in the report respecting the following:

1. Budget Development and Forecasting
   Review the board’s budget processes and development of capital and operating priorities.
   Review the 2014-15 to 2017-18 fiscal year forecasts and strategies to balance the multi-year budgets.
2. Accumulated Surpluses and Deficits
   Review the ten year history of deficit forecasts versus accumulated surplus and balances at fiscal year-end.
   Review the board’s plans for the use of the accumulated surplus reported at June 30, 2014, and forecasted for June 30, 2015.
3. Administrative, Support and Overhead Efficiencies
   Provide the comparators and/or benchmarks to assess efficiency used by the district and recommend additional measures as appropriate.
   Identify opportunities to achieve administrative and support savings through efficiencies, shared services and overhead reductions while protecting student instruction services.
   Identify opportunities to maximize school district revenue.
4. Capital Asset Management
   Review the short and long-term capital plan and forecast including school capacity and utilization rates and propose options for optimizing assets to benefit students.
   Review the districts capital assets including all buildings, leases, and real estate and identify opportunities to reduce leased space or surplus assets that provide no value to students.
5. Board Governance
   Review board governance practices and the board’s capacity in respect of financial matters and effective fiscal management.
   Review special advisor, audit and management consulting reports for the district provided to the board or the minister in the past five years and the actions taken in response to recommendations.
6. Other Matters
   Make recommendations regarding other matters arising from the review, inspection and evaluation as deemed appropriate, including process improvements and shared services that the Ministry of Education could implement to support districts in achieving administrative efficiencies and cost savings.

Media Contacts:

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Education
250 356-5963