HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-06-30, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2005.
School boards take liberties
with contract deadline
Up Close
Carol Oriold, past president of the Blyth Festival board of
directors studies one of the works on exhibit at the opening
of Celebration 30 in the Bainton Art Gallery on Monday
night. The exhibit, comprised of pieces by artists who have
shown at the Gallery over the past 30 years runs until July
1 6. (Bonnie Gropp photo)
On the bear’s trail
With all of the markings complete on the new trails in
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Liberties were taken with a so-
called “deadline” of the provincial
education ministry when the Avon
Maitland District School Board
signed a later-than-last-minute
contract with its elementary teachers ;
earlier this month.
And now the Huron-Perth
Catholic District School Board is
doing the same with its budget.
For several years, the deadline for
filing a balanced school board
budget has been early July, and both
the Huron-Perth and Avon Maitland
boards have complied; this year, the
deadline is supposed to be July 15.
But according to Huron-Perth
business superintendent Gerry
Thuss, “there’s no penalty if boards
file by Aug. 30.”
So, given that Catholic trustees
traditionally meet in the last week of
August (unlike their Avon Maitland
counterparts, who wait until early
September), that’s what Thuss will
do.
“During July and August,
administration will be working on
the revenue and expenditures and
will be presenting a budget report at
the Aug. 29 board meeting for
approval,”' states a report, delivered
by Thuss to trustees at the board’s
final 2004-05 meeting Monday, June
27.
The move didn’t come without
reason, Thuss explained.
“The ministry (education grant)
forms just hit the website Friday
afternoon,” he said in an interview,
adding the same information has
previously been available by late
April. This year, prior to June 24, the
only thing boards had were what
Thuss called “draft templates,”
which could be used for estimating
total revenues but weren’t
considered entirely accurate.
Thuss held back from criticizing
the Education ministry, saying
instead that the government’s focus
all spring had been creating a
funding “framework” which would
allow boards to sign long-term
contracts with their teachers.
And that eventually happened.
Avon Maitland trustees,
meanwhile, were nonetheless
scheduled to tackle their board’s
2005-06 budget at their final
meeting of the school calendar on
Tuesday, June 28. In an interview
Monday, Avon Maitland business
superintendent Janet Baird-Jackson
said administrators at that board’s
been using a ministry-approved
computer program which gave
considerable certainty to the “draft”
numbers. She added any year’s
budget is always subject to minor
alterations in the fall, when final
enrolment numbers are determined.
She described the proposed budget
as “balanced,” with no removal of
any significant programs.
Specifically, she mentioned Team
Read, the Primary Language
Resource Teachers, and Distance
Education < all of which have been
threatened with elimination over the
past couple of years.
“Wherever possible, we’ve
targeted for a five per cent reduction
in expenditures to address declining
enrolment,” she explained.
Thuss was reluctant to use the
term “status quo” to describe the
preliminary budget discussions at
the Catholic board. But he predicted
some drawing down of working fund
reserves would eventually result in
no programming cuts for 2005-06.
Brussels, many have been enjoying following the paths of
the bear, cougar and deer prints. Kathy Sebastian and her
daughter Faith were caught on an evening stroll last week.
(Bonnie Gropp photo)
Seaforth office were working hard to
finalize details for Tuesday evening.
Asked why they could come up
with numbers so quickly after
receiving final grant confirmation,
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JEFF LINTON
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