Trustees with the Lambton Kent District School Board don't have a lot of flexibility in setting the budget for the next school year.
The biggest source of funding for boards of education is provincial grants. But the majority are tied to the number of students and the student population is expected to shrink slightly.
The total recommended budget is $262,991,558; that's an increase of $2-million from the previous budget and $2.3-million could be taken out of reserves.
The biggest expenditure will be labour. Classroom teachers will be paid almost $134-million in total and principals and vice principals $11.5-million.
The board will go over the budget at tonight's meeting.
