Merritt’s school district is not anticipating any drastic changes in advance of the upcoming Provincial budget.

School Board Trustee Chairman, Gordon Comeau, says that there are no school closures anticipated for the Nicola Valley and layoff notices for teachers expected at this time.

“We are always looking at our numbers and trying to project as accurately as possible the state of our finances,” says Comeau.

According to Secretary Treasurer Bruce Tisdale, the district began “belt tightening” four years ago, at which time, school closures in Princeton and Tulameen were deemed necessary.

“We make sure that any new programs are sustainable before we implement them, in order to avoid unnecessary disruption to the status quo,” says Tisdale.

Tisdale does expect further restraint will be unavoidable due to global changes to the formula that allocates the money each school district receives, but does not expect the measures to be as extreme as in other districts.

A Ministry of Education spokesperson says that a technical review committee, which is made up of superintendents and secretary treasurers, will make it’s annual recommendations to the Ministry and says no dramatic changes to the funding formula should be expected.