It's actually not a good news budget.
That was the assessment of trustee Val Windsor Tuesday as she and fellow Delta school board members voted in favour of next year's operating budget.
A $2 million deficit will be balanced with the help of additional revenues, extra government funding as well as carrying some debt forward.
Unlike the past several years, none of the actual cuts planned are to directly impact the classroom or programs.
Several trustees noted that while it might seem like a less painful budget than past years, difficult choices had to be made by previous boards to get to where they are now.
Windsor said since she was first elected in 2011 she has taken part in $10 million worth of cuts and not all of them can be attributed to lower enrollment.
"I know previous boards before I was elected made some heart-wrenching decisions. We closed a school, then we cut down on the bussing and a lot of hard decisions had to have been made in order to kind of protect the classroom from what's going on.
"I'm voting to support this budget, somewhat reluctantly. I hope that the government will realize that our students are our future," she added.
Saying it's still not good news having to lose $2 million from the budget, board chair Laura Dixon said the province, unfortunately, views education as a cost rather than an investment in the future.
