HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times-Advocate, 2002-11-06, Page 3By Stew Slater
SPECIAL TO THE T-A
SEAFORTH — An eas-
ing of restrictions on the
way school boards pro-
vide space for Special
Education students
could put as much as
$107,000 back into the
2002-03 budget of the
Avon Maitland District
School Board.
But the change could
also create — on paper,
at least — more so-
called "empty pupil
spaces," thereby
decreasing the amount
of money the board is
eligible for under the
provinces per-pupil edu-
cational funding formu-
la.
The board’s adminis-
trator of planning and
accommodation, Phil
McCotter, says he
learned about the
change at a meeting
with education ministry
staff in early October. At
the time, school board
officials were informed
they no longer had to
provide paperwork
showing they had a ded-
icated Special Education
teaching space in each
school with 10 or more
classrooms.
In compliance with the
previous requirement,
McCotter explained, the
capacity rating for those
dedicated classrooms
was for only nine stu-
dents, which is the
number mandated by
the government for
Special Education
rooms. But several of
those schools don’t
house any Special
Education classes, and
the room — with an offi-
cial capacity of nine —
actually contained a full
compliment of 24 or
more students.
This artificially pushed
the school’s official
over-all capacity down.
And, with the actual
enrolment taken into
account, it created the
impression the school
was closer to 100 per
cent capacity than was
actually the case.
A small number of
other Avon Maitland
schools, meanwhile,
contain more than one
Special Education class,
but the overall capacity
of those schools only
reflected one of those
classrooms. In these
cases, because the
Special Education class-
es housed significantly
fewer students than the
provincially-mandated
total of 24.5, the previ-
ous arrangement meant
the school’s overall
capacity rating was
artificially inflated.
With the change, every
Special Education class-
room will be rated for
nine students, while
schools without any
such classes won’t be
required to artificially
include one.
According to McCotter,
the Avon Maitland
board’s $107,000 wind-
fall comes from the fact
schools will now be eli-
gible for a greater
amount of money under
the ministry’s so-called
"top-up" program. The
top-up is provided to
schools which aren’t at
100 per cent capacity, to
replace the money for
maintenance which
would come on a per-
pupil basis if the school
was full.
The further downward
the schools enrolment
slips away from 100 per
cent capacity, the more
top-up is made avail-
able. Therefore, with
the capacity rating of
schools no longer being
artificially deflated,
more top-up money
comes to the board.
The flip side, however,
is that top-up funding
stops increasing when
enrolment falls to 80
per cent of capacity.
Thereafter, any costs
associated with main-
taining empty pupil
spaces must be taken
from elsewhere in the
budget. A report from
board staff, delivered at
a regular Oct. 22 meet-
ing, includes the state-
ment that "approxi-
mately 40 per cent of
the board’s schools
(were) occupied at less
than 80 per cent in
September 2002." And
McCotter admitted oth-
ers may slip below 80
per cent threshold as a
result of the change.
"So we gain top-up
funding, but we also
gain a whole lot of
empty pupil spaces,"
commented Stratford
trustee Rod Brown,
after asking McCotter to
clarify the issue at the
meeting.
Wednesday, November 6, 2002 3Exeter Times–Advocate
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Improvements
coming to
MacNaughton Park
By Scott Nixon
TIMES-ADVOCATE STAFF
EXETER — Expect big improvements to Exeter’s
MacNaughton Park, thanks to the Exeter Rodeo and
the economic development fund.
The old picnic area portion of MacNaughton Park
is to be revitalized to the tune of $29,000.
Coun. Pete Armstrong, who also sits on the Exeter
Rodeo committee, said the rodeo’s mandate is to
turn any profits over to recreation.
Work on the park is slated to start in a few weeks.
Armstrong said the park has deteriorated due to
cars driving on the road through the park. Because
of that, the road will be closed and turned into a
walking path.
New upgrades to the park include a new circular
parking area for 18 cars to the north end by the
pump house. The parking area at the other end will
remain.
The new walking area will be a five-foot wide
stone-dust granular area, which Armstrong said
will blend with the natural surroundings and the
new trail coming from Morrison Dam. Another rea-
son for the stone-dust granular pathway,
Armstrong said, is that tree roots could damage a
concrete walkway.
Other changes include four decorative planter
areas with large quarry-stone around them with
decorative post lights. Armstrong said the lights will
be lit from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
There will also be four new picnic tables with bar-
becues.
“We are really enhancing the picnic aspect of the
park,” Armstrong said. “It’s going to be a quiet pic-
nic seating area that people can go and enjoy.”
While the scenic garden area at the newer portion
of MacNaughton Park near Main Street will not be
changed, the upgrades at the picnic area will be
designed to blend in, Armstrong said.
Wedge the Movers unloaded 550 cartons of books into the new library last week in preparation for opening
Nov.4.Above Left:Joe Randall mans the moving cart while Terry Wedge (above right) reshelves the books in
the appropriate section.(photos/Sandra Forster)
New home for books
Special Education change means
more top-up funding for board