CBE News Release: Year-end financial Report

The Calgary Board of Education issued a news release today highlighting their 2010/2011 fiscal year. The text of the release follows:

The Board of Trustees will review the audited 2010-11 financial statements for the Calgary Board of Education during the public meeting on Dec. 6.

Highlights for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, 2011, include:

-balanced operating results for the year;
-revenue was $1.050 billion—91.4 per cent of which comes from the provincial government;
-expenses were $1.055 billion—76 per cent of which is salaries and benefits; and
-administration costs were 3.8 per cent of the operating budget—better than the four per cent provincial spending cap.

Balancing the budget required the system to use $8.7 million of reserves. The requirement to use reserves is less than the $16.4 million forecast. The difference reflects system and school-based decisions to slow spending in the current year when they know the next budget will be tight. The result across our 221-school system is that about $7.7 million budgeted was not spent in 2010-11. This represents a variance of just 0.8 per cent of the year’s operating budget.

The $7.7 million of reserves not used in 2010-11 is earmarked to be spent in 2011-12 to complete planned initiatives.

"The financial statements demonstrate how we responsibly manage public funding to educate more than 100,000 students," says Naomi Johnson, Chief Superintendent of Schools. "The ultimate measure of our success is student learning. Our academic results confirm 2010-11 was an exceptional year."

The financial statements remain drafts until they are approved by the Board of Trustees. Drafts are available in reports for the public meeting on Dec. 6 at this link.

Additional highlights of the financial report will be available in the CBE's combined Annual Education Results Report and Three-year Education Plan. The report will posted at www.cbe.ab.ca after it has been approved by the Board of Trustees.