By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
The School District 57 board gave first, second and third reading to the 2025/2026 draft budget during a meeting on May 13th. The budget projects a $300K to $600K surplus – a far cry from last year’s budget approval process, when the board struggled to balance a $2M projected deficit.
Last year’s process saw much contention from Robson Valley parents, as the board considered eliminating the full-time counselling position in Valemount schools along with the assistant principal position in McBride Centennial. Neither position was eliminated.
In an interview with The Goat, Superintendent Jameel Aziz said the district has faced less costs than it anticipated this year, leading to the projected surplus. Additionally, according to the staff report presented to the board, the closure of Giscome Elementary School in Prince George – which the board unanimously approved to close after June 30th during an April meeting – created a significant reduction in costs.
While the Valemount counselling position is safe for another year, residents should keep working to find ways the position can continue to be funded if circumstances change next year, Aziz cautions. The position is not funded by the Ministry of Education – there are not enough students enrolled full-time in Valemount schools to qualify them for a full-time counsellor based on the ministry’s standards – so residents may need to look for alternate funding sources, he said.
“Last year when the position was in jeopardy, I heard from leaders in Valemount about coming together and looking at other ways to fund that position. And then as soon as we funded the position, that conversation stopped,” Aziz said. “It’s important that, in order to make sure that position can be sustained, we do have some collective conversations and see what other revenue sources… we might be able to access to keep that position in place so that Valemount and [the] community continues to have the support they clearly require.”
However, Aziz said he was encouraged to see that Valemount Secondary School hosted a mental health conference in early May, which he attended. He hopes Valemount residents make contingency plans to ensure the counsellor position can remain even if the district cannot fund it, such as using grants for public health initiatives.
The Valemount Secondary School Parent Advisory Council did not respond to The Goat’s request for comment.
This year, the district has received considerably less feedback on the budget, according to Aziz. The board received over 900 comments on the 2024/2025 draft budget, as opposed to this year, when it received just 100 comments. Aziz attributes the diminished engagement to the fact that the board will not have to consider controversial measures such as cutting staff.
Although it’s a relief that this year’s budget is running a small surplus and will not require the district to eliminate staff positions, the district can’t rest on its laurels, Aziz said – future years may require considering the same drastic measures as last year.
“This year is a relatively good news story for us, but I can’t even anticipate what might happen next year. And so we will just kind of wait and see how things continue to unfold for us,” Aziz said.
In any case, Aziz said he will continue to support rural schools the best he can during future budget discussions.
“Sometimes there’s a sense in our rural communities that they’re not made a priority. As a former rural school principal, that certainly is not the case for myself and it’s certainly not the case for our board,” he said. “We have to make sure that we’re looking after programming across the district, because our rural students deserve the same educational, social and sport opportunities that our in-town schools have as well.”
