The local public school board has received some unexpected good news concerning its pocketbook, another $6.1-million.
Trustees with the Greater Essex County District School Board went through the district's audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending August 31.
The documents revealed an estimated surplus, which, according to board Vice-Chairman and Trustee Ronald LeClair, will be used to pay some outstanding debt earlier than anticipated.
"What we'll be able to do is pay down our capital expenditure debt in approximately two years, and get that down to zero, which is significant, because when I came onto the board we were at around $16-million, some three years ago," says LeClair.
The debt is now down to around $4-million to $5-million.
The audit committee will use the $6.1-million toward funding of the Better Places Renewal Initiative, and the construction costs of a new LaSalle Public School.
LeClair points out that the school's construction was financed with a model different than the one currently used by the province. The board had used a divestiture to pay for the school construction. LeClair says it is essentially like paying down a mortgage.
During the meeting, it was noted that Trustee Alan Halberstadt had remarked a year ago that paying down this debt so early did not seem possible. LeClair says the board was in not-so-great shape financially 12 months ago.
"Enrollment is now up, and we've had some significant improvements in the environmental design aspect of our schools, so we're seeing savings from there," says LeClair.
