The main topic of contention at Tuesday night’s monthly meeting of the Rainy River District School Board here was the funding that stemmed from the Education Equity Task Force Impact report.
Laura Mills, the board’s chief financial officer, outlined to trustees how the Rozanski report would affect the district’s schools—particularly the three areas that received immediate provincial funding last month.
She indicated that under recommendations made in the report, the district would receive an estimated $269,000 for Cycle 3 and 4 of the 2002-03 school year for special education.
Some $250 million was put aside province-wide.
Mills also reported the district would receive about $600,000 for current collective bargaining negotiations with teachers and staff—representing a 2.7 percent pay increase.
This is part of a total $340 million set aside for collective bargaining in the province.
And Mills said the district would receive $41,000 for transportation, indicating this figure was arrived at on an enrolment basis as well as current funding levels.
The total province-wide allocation was $20 million.
Board vice-chair Dan Belluz said he was not happy with only getting $41,000.
“The ministry is just ignoring us,” he charged. “[I] don’t know of a school board that needs it more. I’m not saying we should give it back, but it really is an insult.”
The board last night also reviewed the local results of the Grade 9 mathematics assessments as well as the EQAO testing results for Grades 3 and 6.
Heather Campbell congratulated district teachers and students for their achievement in the academic stream of results.
But she indicated more stress needed to be put on the applied stream to help those students erase the eight percentage points their results were below the provincial average.
“It’s still an area of concern,” she said.
Terry Ellwood, the board’s superintendent of education, reported the EQAO results. He showed that the money spent on development and training for early years education was paying off with the Grade 3 results.
He also noted at least 15 teachers were taking reading and mathematics refreshers on their own time and dime, creating early years specialists.
But Ellwood also indicated more of a focus needed to be put on the junior level as shown by the more static Grade 6 results.
Belluz agreed with this assessment, saying, “The board needs to look at support for these teachers.”
The next testing phase for EQAO will be in May.
On another financial note, Mills reported Tuesday night the status of the board’s budget for 2002-03. “[The board] ended the year in a very favourable position, with a surplus,” she said.
Mills said there was a $324,000 transfer to the reserve for classroom expenditures, making the total $370,855. Another $450,305 was transferred to the reserve for working funds for a total of $672,501.
“It’s good news for the board,” she remarked.
Other items discussed by the board Tuesday night included the success of technology in the classroom, the blocking of the www.ratemyteacher.com Web site, and integration of Native Studies curriculum into the schools.
The board also will support a letter written by the Waterloo Region District School Board to the Minister of Education recommending a reduction in walking distances for students by writing a letter of their own.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
