MOOSE JAW — Last year’s mild winter was good news for Holy Trinity Catholic School Division, as it spent nearly $8,000 less on utility costs than it had budgeted.
Utility expenses — including electrical, heating fuel, and water and sewer — totalled $676,933 for the 2023-24 school year, according to a recent facilities accountability report.
Of that amount, the division spent $402,015 on electricity, $203,743 on heating fuel and $71,175 on water and sewer.
In comparison, it spent $684,521 in total during the 2022-23 school year on utilities, a difference of $7,588.
This dip was surprising — but positive — considering Holy Trinity also faced an increase in the carbon tax last year, CFO Curt Van Parys said during the recent board meeting. He attributed the decline in costs to a milder winter, which meant the division did not use as much natural gas as expected.
The CFO noted that utility expenses should decline once the new joint-use school opens since the division will have two fewer schools to operate.
Building usage rate
Holy Trinity had an enrolment of 2,408 students among its nine schools during the 2023-24 year, with the usage of each building — how full it is — fluctuating from 56 per cent to 123 per cent, the report said. Vanier Collegiate had the lowest usage rate while St. Agnes School had the highest.
The Ministry of Education calculates the usage rates, but “it’s a complicated process and formula” that is difficult to understand, said Van Parys. Typically, the ministry will add portables to schools only if they’re over 120 per cent capacity. However, Holy Trinity is limited at St. Agnes because of site restrictions.
“… so we do have a challenge with St. Agnes moving forward,” he added.
Operational budget management
The buildings department’s amended operational budget — excluding Preventative Maintenance and Renewal (PMR) funding that’s used to upgrade schools — saw expenses of $2,736,140 last year, which was $218,711 or eight per cent under budget, Van Parys said. However, what he was most pleased about was the department’s financial performance during the past four years, where, on average, it was 99.6 per cent on budget.
The only outstanding expense variation was in 2020-21 when the department was $503,654 over budget, which the CFO attributed to the pandemic, “pure and simple.”
PMR expenses
The department’s PMR expenses were $296,683 — or 45.2 per cent — under budget last year, which was purposeful because the division needed that money to offset the funding shortfalls in 2024-25 and 2025-26 for the École St. Margaret School minor capital program, the report said.
While the division spent 54.8 per cent of PMR funding last year, its four-year average is 70.7 per cent, the document continued.
The Ministry of Education initially approved $4 million for the renovation project, which would have right-sized the building and updated the interior and exterior. The ministry increased the project cost to $5 million and then to $5.5 million.
The winning company for the tender was C&S Builders, which bid $6,103,846, although the total estimated cost became $6.75 million, the report said. This left an estimated shortfall of $1.25 million that Holy Trinity had to cover with PMR funding.
The completion date is November 2025.
Beside the St. Margaret project, the division is also responsible for purchasing furniture and equipment for its half of the new joint-use school, Our Lady of Hope, and providing financial support for a new playground, said Van Parys. So, it may have to make further decisions about holding back funds.
The cost to purchase furniture could be $885,000, based on 2019 data, while a new playground could be around $500,000, he noted.
The joint-school’s total cost is roughly $67 million, with Holy Trinity responsible for $29.5 million; so far, it’s paid $13,979,958.
The new school is expected to open in October 2025.
Total department budget
The buildings department’s 2023-24 total operating budget was $3.2 million, although it spent roughly 84.5 per cent of that, the report said. Meanwhile, the four-year average for total expenses has been 94.5 per cent of budget.
The next Holy Trinity board meeting is Monday, Nov. 18.
