The Board of Education of School District No. 71 (Comox Valley) is accountable for the public funds that support the school district. One of the Board’s responsibilities is the adoption of the Districts’ budget. The budget must conform to legislative requirements set out in the School Act and is the financial plan that supports the Districts’ goals.

Boards of Education operate on a fiscal year of July 1st to June 30th. For 2025-2026, Section 113 of the School Act requires Boards to prepare an annual budget and have it adopted by bylaw and submitted to the Ministry of Education by June 30, 2025.

The Board is currently planning for the next school year, which includes:

• Setting priorities for the delivery of student learning
• Projecting student enrolment
• Projecting the costs of providing the existing services into the next year (salaries, benefits, utilities, inflation, etc.)
• Determining which costs will change
• Projecting revenues (international student fees, rental fees, interest revenue, Ministry grants, etc.)
• Identifying strategies and options to address the net budget position (projected revenues less projected expenditures)
• Reviewing the budget against the Board’s strategic priorities
• Finalizing decisions

As reports and presentations become available they will be posted on the webpage in addition to public Board and Committee of the Whole agendas.

Budget Reports and Presentations:

Committee of the Whole and Public Board Meetings are open to the public and presentations are live streamed and will be available on the District YouTube channel. A link to the Annual Budget & Multi Year Financial Plans section of our Report’s page can be found here.

The Board approved the following budget development timeline for the 2025-2026 school year at their Board meeting on January 28, 2025:

February 11	Annual Budget – Open Committee of the Whole Meeting Budget process overview
April 22	Regular Board Meeting – Discuss and consider the implications of the Preliminary Operating Grant Announcement, specifically Revenue impacts. 2025-26 Annual Budget Preliminary Operating Grant Announcement
April 23 to May 7	Public Budget Consultation Process –  Public Budget Consultation process for 25-26 includes a public survey: 2025/26 Annual Budget Input Survey – Comox Valley Schools Any other special meetings with Partner groups may be facilitated during this time period. *Note-All Public Board and Committee of the Whole meetings are open to the general public. As always, any Comox Valley resident is welcome to attend public board meetings.
May 13	Annual Budget – Open Committee of the Whole Meeting First look at Operating Budget Position only.
May 15-16	Public Budget Consultation Process Cont’d Opportunity for further engagement with Partner groups as needed.
May 27	Regular Board Meeting To share input from Public Budget Consultation process and consider preliminary balancing options. Opportunity for District Staff and Partner Group presentations if desired. Further Partner Group feedback welcome.
June 10	Annual Budget – Committee of the Whole Meeting Updated final draft of annual budget with adjustments incorporated and further information on capital and special purpose funds (Includes draft bylaw template).
June 24	Regular Board Meeting Approval 2025-26 Annual Budget Bylaw and receipt of multi year financial plan if available.

Public Feedback: 

The public feedback component of the budget process is open April 23, 2025 to May 7, 2025.  You can take the survey here: 2025/26 Annual Budget Input Survey – Comox Valley Schools

Prior Year Budget Reports and Presentations