Chris Puglia
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 20/02) - The only problem with the Yellowknife Catholic School board's financial position this year is figuring out what do with all the excess money.

The board recorded a $431,356 surplus for the 2001/2002 school year, its second $400,000-plus surplus in two years.

Initially $350,000 of the surplus was going to be transferred to the board's capital reserve, but that decision will now come next month after getting input from parents.

The delay was initiated when board members came to the table with concerns from parents on how they want to see the money spent.

One request was to improve supply resources for special needs students.

The remaining $81,000 of the surplus was used to hire a new teacher at Weledeh School to accommodate higher enrolment.

The surplus increased the board's total cash reserves to $1.36 million, split between a capital, unrestricted and decentralized reserve.

The reserve status of the board falls into the Education Culture and Employment five to 10 per cent of operating revenue guideline.

The board currently operates with a roughly $16 million budget.

A majority of the surplus can be attributed to the Weledeh construction project being completed $269,602 under budget.

There was also a payment from the City of Yellowknife for $148,700 for the final instalment toward construction of the Weledeh Gym.

Since those expenditures were made in a previous fiscal year, the funds were recorded as revenue.

"If it weren't for those two things we have broken even," said board chair Larry Purcka.