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Revised (Nov 25 2008)
Roles and responsibilities for finance
The provincial legislature:
- establishes funding for public education
The minister of education:
- puts forward a request to the Treasury Board for public education funding
- allocates funding to BC school districts based on enrollment
- issues budget instructions and a common format for budget documents
- issues accounting instructions for the common allocation of costs
Boards of education:
- generate local revenues
- prioritize expenditures
- allocate funds to programs and services
- prepare budget documents and approve the budget
- monitor expenditures against budget and plans
- approve audited financial statements
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HOW FUNDS ARE ALLOCATED
School districts allocate spending to several functional areas:
- instruction
- district and school administration
- building operations and maintenance, and
- student transportation and housing.
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School district spending can also be analyzed by the type of expenditure (e.g., salaries, employee benefits, supplies and services). Spending for salaries and benefits averages 87 per cent, leaving only 13 percent for supplies and services (down from a high of 15 per cent in the mid-1980s). After fixed costs such as heat, light, gas, phones and paper are funded, boards are left with discretionary spending of about four-per cent to cover other board priorities.
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Timing of the annual operating budget
