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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-04-01, Page 1Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario April 1, 1998 --- $1.00 includes GST School boards hold different views on funding BY TRISH WILKINSON AND RiCK KEW After months of specula- tion, initial numbers from the province's new education funding "are adding up to some early concerns for local board administrators. One board isnot liking it a whole lot. the Avon Maitland District School Board { AMDSB), while the other, the Huron -Perth Catholic District School Board, is. Paul Carroll. director of education for the Avor Maitland hoard, said -their ini- tial analysis of the govern- ment's fair funding model is' that "it could have been bet- ter." "i'd like to he enthusiastic about it—hut I'm sorry. I'm not," Carroll stated, adding he didn't want to sound too neg- ative about the new funding model as they were "still try- ing to interpret the numbers." Still. the director noted that ii the initial totaling of the raw figures, there doesn't seem to be any increase in the TWO SPEAKERS - Charles Smith (left) and Maureen Agar both spoke to students at the protest on Main Street Monday. Trustees withdraw motion... High school hanging on BY TRISH WILKINSON CLINTON - A day before • the fate of Seaforth District High School (SDHS) was to he decided. local trustees 'have at Icast for now With- drawn their recommendation to close the school Paul Carroll.' dt ector of education for ` the Avon Maitland District Scho& Board (AMDSB). said m an interview Monday that due to shortages in the provincial government's new education funding model. the site review committee has decid- ed to call off their earlier rec- ommendation to convert the current SDHS into the mu board office. . "The committee .rill defer action on the matter of the potential closure of SDHS," a press release from the AMDSB stated. "The original motion 'to close SDHS and establish a single board head- quarters in that location will therefore not go forward" The recommendation was made following thc reali,za- tion that the AMDSB is about $2 million short in the area of the pupil accommodation grant - the • money used to pay for the maintenance and repairs of schools: Carroll , stated that since the commit- tee felt the districts space problem was larger than what closing SDHS could fix, they recommended that the head- quarters question he put on. hold. - "They fell. it would he wise to look at all huildings.' the director said. ' Therefore. Carroll contin- ued.. the site review commit- tee recommended to the hoard last night in Stratford !hat a number of accommodation review committees be estab- lished. The director noted that these .committees would examine all schuol locations in the district where enroll- ment or occupancy levels. and the state of building repair. may be problematic. As well. the director added that,thc site review committee will be bringing forth a rec-, ommendation to trustees that the 210 Water Street building in Stratford be sold. As for the healquarters question. the release notes that "hoard administration will continue' to reorganize. business and operations sup- port systems. and delay fur- ther action in a single site solution until a tittle line that would provide a final recom- mendation by Sept. I. 1998." Carroll' added that although thc hoard can continue to reorganize its systems with- out a new headquarters. the delay is going to create some complications. - "It's going to cause addi- tional problems." he said. money being handed over by the province. "At the moment, there is no indication that we have more money." he said. Even worse, Carroll contin- ued, initial calculations for some .areas of the board's funding seem to be coming up short. The one causing the most concern, the director noted, is the pupil accommodation grant, or the money given to the board to cover building operating and maintenance costs and repairs and renova- tions in thc schools. "To be short a couple of million dollars in this area is a real problem." he said. "This is a concern to us.". The director added' that' a shortage in this arca of fund- ing could result in the AMDSB having to look ai filling its space in the hoard's 59 huildings more efficiently. "Some would suggest that the hoard has to look at the number of huildings it oper- ates." Despite criticisms of thc funding model, Gerry Thuss, superintendent of business and finance with the Catholic' hoard, said he was cautiously optimistic after finding out the board will have an 8.4 per cent increase in funding for the 1998-99 school year. "It's as if we've been hand - cd a violin. We know it sounds good but it's just part of what makes up the whole symphony," he said. "There is a lot we haven't heard yet." Emphasizing that the Catholic hoard was the lowest spending. school board on a per pupil hasis in the entire province. Thuss said he is pleased the ministry of educa- tion is doing what it said it would in addressing the fund - Continued on page 3. Fundingstudent focussed says Huron MPP Johns BY TRISH WILKINSON ' EXETER - Despite a lack of enthusiasm from,the. local school hoard. Huron's MPP is calling the new education funding model an assurance that students are going to be the focus of increased spend- ing: MPP Helen Johns stated that the province's new stu- dent -focussed funding, announced by the Minister of Education last Wednesday. has allocated for,the first tilde specific funds to the class- room. Johns added that across the province, dollars ,being spent in the classroom will increase by $500 million in 1998/99. These dollars. the MPP' con- tinued. arc a result of thc real- location throughout thc province and a' =mandated reduction in hoard and "non - classroom expenditures.' • "I have stated all along that as many dollars as possible should be spent in the class- room. Directors • salaries exceeding $100,000 a year arc ludicrous, when our chil- dren do not have adequate textbooks," Johns stated in a press release. "I believe that 'parents and students will be excited to see that the govern- ment has prioritized spending focused in the classroom." The new . fair funding model, Johns said. will also ensure that students in differ- ent geographical !areas of Ontario no longer receive dif- ferent funding for their educe= tion. Instead, thc new model provides one. basic universal` per pupil Foundation Grant for each student. no matter where they live. `This has been extremely unfair for the students of Huron. Parents and students , can now he assured that no matter where they live. there is funding to provide high quality education. she said. Johns alst, listed other areas in which her government was reinvesting. including a Class Size ,Protection . Fund, which will provide $1.2 Killion over three years to ensure that average class sizes do not increase beyond a hoard -wide' maximum average of 25 stu- dents per plass in elementary schools. and 22 students per class in secondary school. As well, the MPP continued. there will be support for early learning. a • Learning Opportunities Grant to prp- vide extra help for students at a greater risk of academic failure because of their social Continued on page 3. Time to turn clocks ahead it's that time of year again the time we both anticipate and dread - the time we spring ahead into daylight savings time, hut in the process lose one 'hour of takep. So remember. when you head off to bed this Saturday night. to turn your clock ahead by one hour. Otherwise you may miss something you'd rather not. NOON -HOUR PROTEST - Seaforth Mayor Dave Scott and Maureen Agar addressed those who gathered in front of Town Hall on Main Street at noon hour Monday to protest the possible closure of Seaforth District High School. Later in the afternoon the site committee report that recommended the local high school be closed was withdrawn.