Assistant Superintendent, Drew Chipman, says FSD is a projecting a 1.2 million dollar deficit for the 2015-2016 school year.

The Foothills School Division has approved their budget for the 2015-2016 school year.

Assistant Superintendent Drew Chipman says the change in government has allowed FSD to restore some issues the initial budget had taken out, like limits on reserves and funding student growth. The division would have faced two million dollars in cuts had funding not been restored.

Chipman says the board is committed to running a deficit.

"We're projecting a 1.2 million dollar deficit for next year. Certainly if enrolment growth is higher than we anticipate that number will probably go down but it's exciting to get to where we need to be and be able to put those supports in the schools need."

Chipman explains this budget allows the division to make sure all students are looked after.

"We think we're running a pretty good system, so we've made some adjustments. Instructional coaches is one that we're going to be allocating in a different level. We've been able to province those supports for our inclusive ed students, special needs students. We think that's where the biggest bang for our buck is to make sure those most fragile students are being cared for correctly and we're able to do that with this budget."

He adds parents will notice a difference in the amount of time teachers are out of the classroom as well an improvement with crowding issues at Westmount School.  Chipman says these changes may be less noticeable than any that would've been made if funding hadn't been restored.