Secretary-Treasurer Harold Cull (left) and Superintendent Mike McKay (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

BACK TO SCHOOL

Kamloops schools reopen as district brass prepares to examine impacts of budget cuts

Sep 2, 2025 | 4:28 PM

KAMLOOPS — The new year is officially underway for the Kamloops Thompson School District as students returned to the classrooms on Tuesday (Sept. 2) morning. It’s a year of change for the district, with a new temporary superintendent at the helm, helping lead SD73 in the hunt for his full-time replacement after the sudden departure of Rhonda Nixon in the summer. The district also opens the new year with fewer staff in the schools after cuts were made in the most recent budget.

School District 73 has been growing at a medium-sized elementary school per year, but that steady growth may be coming to end.

“The board was very thoughtful during very painful and tough decisions last year to make sure the cuts that were made were not going to be the first in a series of rolling cuts, year after year after year,” said Superintendent Mike McKay Tuesday. “We have to be sustainable going forward, we need to recognize that right now, the evidence points to a flatline or even a slight decrease in enrollment overall and we have to plan for that.”

Official enrollment numbers are finalized at the end of the month. The district is funded by the province on a per student basis, making a potential drop in enrollment a budgetary concern.

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“As we get that actual enrollment and we figure out what the system needs, we are able to bring that forward to the board for the amended budget process and try to get those resources, if need be, into the system as soon as possible,” said Secretary-Treasurer Harold Cull.

The school board was forced to make a number of cuts ahead of the new school year — in particular around staffing — but the board maintains the impacts to students will be minimal.

“I don’t know that I can categorically say that there will be fewer [educational assistants] in the classes where there is the highest priority,” said McKay. “I think those decisions, when we knew in June what we could expect, those decisions were calibrated then for the planning. And as we know more, right now over the next several days, we will make those adjustments so the areas of highest need get the support they need.”

In the face of those school-level cuts, some calls from the community were directed at district-level staff and whether cuts would be made at the administrative level, as well.

“We are successful in finding the savings that we were looking for last year,” outlined Cull. “As positions become vacant, we will continue to look at them and make sure they are required, that they are meeting the priorities set by the board. That is an ongoing process that we will continue to do.”

The next few weeks will be key for the board and district staff as they evaluate the impacts from their budget decisions.

“We will get feedback from principals as early as this week. We will respond as we can within the available resources right now and then we will do a recalibration at the end of the month to see what else we can do,” said McKay.