Local Catholic teachers get raise

Teachers with the Northwest Catholic District School Board will receive a two percent salary hike after the Ontario Elementary English Catholic Teachers’ Association ratified a contract for the 2000-01 school year.
The deal was announced at the board’s regular monthly meeting Saturday in Sioux Lookout.
“It’s a really a cut and dry agreement,” Ann Cox, the board’s human resources administrator, noted yesterday, adding the salary increase was the only change over last year’s contract.
The salary hike is retroactive to Sept. 1.
“We feel the discussions were conducted in an acceptable manner on both sides,” said Cox. “They went well because we have a really good relationship with our teachers on a daily basis.”
The board and union reached a tentative agreement Sept. 22 but it’s taken the past month to get all the teachers across the Rainy River and Dryden districts to vote on ratifying it.
In other news, the board voted in favour of transferring funds for school renewal and other capital projects from two separate reserves under advisory from the Ministry of Education.
The board had a Ministry Equity Capital Fund (MECR) with a balance of $102,123.21 and a Board Equity Capital Reserve Fund (BECR) with a balance of $61,185.14.
These reserves were the result of the sale of school properties, primarily the former Sacred Heart School in Sioux Lookout. The MECR represents provincial share of the sale proceeds and BECR the board’s share.
These reserves were under tight ministry control, and could only be used to fund large capital projects with its approval.
The ministry had advised the board to close these reserves, and place the MECR balance in a reserve for Pupil Accommodation Allocation and the BECR in a reserve for “other capital.”
The pupil accommodation money must be used for school renewal purposes while the “other capital” may be used for an project of the board wants.
Meanwhile, Margot Saari, principal at Sacred Heart School, gave a profile of the school.
“It was excellent,” noted Education Director Carol-Lynne Oldale. “A grade eight student gave a speech on the importance of Catholic schools, and two students from the school’s ‘Peace Patrol’ presented on the intensive conflict intervention program they have there.”