The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board is reporting a $4.4-million deficit for the 2015-2016 school year.
However, the board says it's not all bad news, because the majority of the deficit comes from one-time costs from negotiated contracts that resulted in post-retirement benefit payouts.
Executive Superintendent of Business Penny King says if you take the post-retirement benefits out of the equation, they actually had a surplus.
"One of the key factors that contributed to turning it around, if you take out those one-time non-recurring expenses, was the increased enrollment that we had. We had 277 more pupils than we planned for in the budget," says King.
The deficit will come out of the board's reserves, leaving $14.27-million in the surplus account at the end of the 2015-2016 school year.
