Staffing cuts both in and out of the classroom are the price the Rainy River District School Board is going to have to pay to maintain the balanced 2001-02 budget of $27,409,233 it approved at a special meeting here Tuesday night.
“With less money available overall, we discussed the issues at great length,” said trustee Judy Eluik, who chairs the board’s finance committee.
“Since the education of students is our major concern, our focus was to have the least impact on them,” she added.
One major factor considered by trustees–most recently at a finance committee meeting last Wednesday–was the decline in enrolment by 121 students across the district, resulting in a loss of $940,000 in revenue and a reduction in teaching staff and support staff across the board.
As well, the increase in $788,000 in grants from the government–referred to as a flexibility fund–won’t cover the 2001-02 increased costs for the board, which equal $1.1 million in additional salaries, $300,000 in higher utilities, and $400,000 in benefit cost increases.
But the board will try to soften the blow in the classroom by spending $500,000 more on teaching staff than funding allocates while underspending in the areas of para-professional staff and board administration.
It also will be spending $325,000 more than the funding model provides for special education. While the number of educational assistants will be significantly reduced, the board has tried to lessen the cuts by overspending.
The “Reading Recovery” program, which costs $300,000 annually, will continue next year but over the next school year, there will be a cost-benefit review of this program by closely studying the results of student achievement.
But exactly how the decline in enrolment will impact which high school courses may have to be cut has yet to be determined, noted Education Director Warren Hoshizaki.
“They haven’t been narrowed down, and there’s a reason for that,” he said. “There’s legislation in the house that could change the course load for [secondary school] teachers.
But they don’t expect it to be passed until the end of June–until then, we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen,” he admitted.
“The budget shouldn’t jeopardize [course selection]. If students enroll in the course, it should stay going,” said board vice-chair Dan Belluz.
Trustees noted the budget was the best the board could do given the decreased funding from the province.
“Trustees and administrators are commended for producing . . . a student-focused budget,” said board chair Gord McBride.
“Investing half-a-million dollars more in classroom teachers than the government earmarked shows the board is putting the quality of educating our young people as the highest priority,” he stressed.
But trustees Martin Darrah and Ron McAlister were critical of the government.
“Funding cuts and grant structures that don’t apply to our remote areas and education costs erode the ability of our public school system to provide our children with the necessary programs and assistance needed for a well-rounded education,” charged Darrah.
“Cost-cutting and downsizing has seldom improved on the quality of a product,” he argued.
McAlister agreed. “How the Harris government can continue to effectively hamstring public boards through steadily decreasing funding and ever more stringent rules, while at the same time contemplating spending hundreds of millions on tax credits for unaccountable private schools, is incomprehensible to me,” he remarked.
Also at Tuesday night’s special meeting, the board approved the 2001 Special Education Plan that committee has been working on. A new aspect to the plan is the early detection strategy which aims to identify special needs children as soon as possible.
This strategy was discussed at a previous board meeting.
And this meeting’s “Recognition of Excellence” went to McBride, who has served as a trustee for 25 years, including several terms as chair.
McBride also was presented with a cake that looked like a textbook.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
