Foothills School Division (FSD) said it had a positive meeting with RJ Sigurdson following remarks the Highwood MLA made that raised questions during a post-budget town hall meeting earlier this month in Diamond Valley.
The meeting between the two parties came after FSD said that Sigurdson made "incomplete and somewhat misleading" remarks in response to a question about public education funding at the forum.
“…and when I had somebody get mad at me last year to say there’s not enough money in the Foothills School Division, I go, then why did they put over a million dollars in the reserves?" Sigurdson said during the town hall. “They didn’t even spend all the money we gave them."
The division said in an earlier statement that people asked about the comments, and the division contacted Sigurdson for "the opportunity to provide clarity and the complete story of operating reserves at Foothills School Division."
Sigurdson met with FSD representatives on March 22.
“It was a good meeting,” said Theresa Letendre, chair of the division’s board of trustees, in a follow-up statement. “We appreciated the opportunity to meet face-to-face as it gave all of us a chance to provide additional context and clarity."
In its initial statement, FSD said it has drawn down operating reserves by over $3 million in the last four years.
"We have placed our reserve dollars into classrooms to best meet the needs of students," the division said.
FSD said it has run deficits since the 2015-2016 school year and has a budgeted deficit of over $920,000 for this school year.
