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Huron Expositor, 2002-06-12, Page 6News THE HURON EXPOSITOR, June 20, 2001-5 `Needs -based' budget will protest flawed funding formula By Stew Slater Special to The Expositor Trustees of the Avon Maitland District School Board stopped short of demanding a "deficit hudget" for 2001-02 from administrative staff. But the strategy -- which was made illegal by Premier Mike Harris's ruling Conservatives and has inspired the government to talk about tines and even jail time for trustees -- was mentioned several times at the board's regular meeting Tuesday, June 12. Stratford trustee Rod Brown went the furthest, suggesting the board threaten to deliver a deficit budget in a letter being sent to the minister and deputy minister of education, requesting a meeting to discuss the province's educational funding formula. Two other minor amendments to the letter were accepted without trustee votes, but chair Wendy Anderson didn't even suggest making Brown's change, after it became apparent no other trustee would support his amendment. Among other things, the letter states that the board "barely keep(s) up with accepted health and safety standards and (is) only able to handle the required ongoing facility maintenance and repairs, with little left for facility upgrades to meet the new curriculum requirements. We are in the midst of a financial crisis because of this short-term survival strategy.". Trustees voted unanimously in favour of sending the letter. Later, following an update on the hudget process from superintendent of business Janet Baird - Jackson, Brown again expressed support for running a deficit. He quoted a Globe and M a i 1 newspaper columnist who charged the ruling party "still insists on blaming the school boards and every other stakeholder themselves," the government to increase funding and/or alter its funding formula. Again, however, it was a less drastic measure -- something called a "needs - based hudget" -- which received some level of trustee support. But fellow Stratford trustee Mcg Westley expressed the hope that a message could be sent through the move, especially if it could he coupled with delaying tactics that could see the board miss the provincially -mandated June 30 deadline for completion of a hudget. Following Baird -Jackson's presentation, Westley proposed asking administrative staff to deliver two preliminary budgets. One would be a balanced hudget, but would highlight where cutbacks had been made Quoted 'If we can't make some kind of stance (the government) is going to take everything," Stratford trustee Meg Westley except then called on from the previous year. And the other would be a needs -based budget," which would retain all those services, programs and staff members and potentially run a deficit. "I'm not saying we're going to ask for the moon," she said, stressing her motion would not suggest bringing in a deficit in the final budget. But she added school boards in Ottawa and Toronto have used similar measures to successfully highlight the shortcomings of the province's funding formula. Central Huron trustee Charles Smith argued against the motion, saying it was the first step towards defying the law. He cast one of the three dissenting votes -- along with North Perth's Don Brillinger and Northwest Huron's Butch Desjardins -- in a slim 5-3 victory for Westley. Following the meeting, Baird -Jackson admitted she now faced increased work leading up to the June 30 provincial deadline. She also admitted she had not seen examples of the Ottawa or Toronto needs -based documents. But she vowed to "go on what the trustees were saying" and "work to have it done by the deadline." In her budget update, the superintendent of business had included a list of "expenditure areas previously identified as `protected' (which) are no longer sustainable, at least at the current level." Among other things, the list includes: a principal at each school; split grades but no triple grades; social workers in partnership with the Huron County Children's Aid Society; public health nurses in partnership with health units in Perth County; maximum length of student time on buses; a certain level of secretarial hours; a certain level of Education Assistant support; and a certain level of support in libraries and computer labs. "Pretty much everything listed will be attacked in an effort to combat the problem," Baird -Jackson said. She also mentioned school closure, saying it "will help, but it's not the magic bullet." Catholic board sympathetic to public board's declining enrolment and funding difficulties By Stew Slater Special to The Expositor Officials of the Huron -Perth Catholic District School Board made more than one sympathetic comment about the plight of its "coterminous" counterpart, during discussion Monday, June 18 prior to and following approval of its own $35 -million budget for 2001- 02. "What they've expressed here are very similar to the problems we encounter," said Huron -Perth chair Ron Marcy, in response to the board's reception of a copy of a letter sent to the Ontario government by the Avon Maitland board, requesting a meeting with the minister of education. The letter, signed by Avon Maitland chair Wendy Anderson, highlights shortfalls in such funding areas as transportation and special education. It also acknowledges the "hitter and divisive" nature of the board's attempts to cut costs by closing schools, admitting that it "detracts from the board's education mission." Earlier, during explanations of enrolment projections for the Huron -Perth board, director of education Gaetan Blanchette avoided mentioning Avon Maitland by name; but he did express strong sympathy for boards like it, which face somewhat greater enrolment declines than his own. He made a particular point of explaining why it's difficult for some boards, especially those with a lot of small schools scattered across a large area, to cut staffing costs at the same rate at which enrolment declines while keeping all schools open. Interestingly, both Marcy and Blanchette -- as well as superintendent of business Gerry Thuss -- acknowledged the Huron -Perth board might be in a similar situation as Avon Maitland, if not for the government's "Small Schools Grant" and ."Rural and Remote" funding allocation. Huron -Perth receives almost $2 million through those sources, while Avon Maitland receives a much smaller amount. "If we didn't have that Rural and Remote and Small Schools Grant, I don't know where we'd be," Marcy said. "We'd be where a lot of other boards are, I guess." At a recent Avon Maitland meeting, some trustees expressed support for defying the government's requirement that boards submit a balanced - - not a deficit -- budget by June 30. In a closely -contested vote, it was decided to first complete two preliminary budgets: one which balances the books but highlights which programs and services have been lost from the previous year; and another so-called "needs -based budget" which runs a deficit but includes the expenditures which the board would rather leave in place. There was no such call for defiance at the June 18 Huron - Perth meeting. That doesn't mean, however, that there was no criticism of the provincial government. Blanchette, never one to shy away from attacking the ruling Conservatives, took particular offense to a recent media release from the education ministry, ostensibly "correcting" media reports regarding the level of provincial funding since 1995. The director of education used a series of statistics, including inflation levels and a province -wide enrolment increase, to argue the "real" value of educational funding has been severely inadequate. Likewise, Marcy chronicled a list of funding cuts and unprojected expenditures in the 2001-02 budget, which more than erase a recent government announcement of $100 per Ontario student. A government press release described the money as "flexible," in that it could be used however boards chose, based on local situations. "How can you call this flexible? You can't. Because the purpose of the hoard is to educate the students. And you have to transport them and provide for their special needs," Marcy said. Those two expenditure areas are significant because the board's budget shows that transportation and special education most outstrip what the government provides in funding. In both cases. money is drawn from such areas as administration to make up the difference. Also in both transportation and special education, the government has frozen funding, either pending the board's adaptation of a computerized transportation routing system or pending a province -wide review of the way in which special -needs children are identified and characterized. Several board members also pointed to the education ministry's 2001-02 allocation for textbooks, which is about half what it was last year. This is despite the fact an equal number of new textbooks will be needed next September as were necessary last year. for the leading class in the new four-year high school program. In the new Huron -Perth hudget, about $32,(XX) is taken from other sources to make up the difference and make sure next year's Grade 11 students have texts for the new curriculum.. Closure wasn't mentioned directly in her report. but it does state that "consolidation of student accommodation, so as to reduce duplicated infrastructure and to maintain or enhance student learning environment, will continue to be essential." Drawing inspiration from such comments, Westley spoke strongly in favour of joining with other school hoards in approving such measures as the needs -based hudget. "There are a lot of things that can he done. Maybe we can tile late or wait until the last minute," she said. "If we can't make some kind of stance ... (the government) is going to take everything. "We're not alone. There is a lot of resistance going on." For real peace of mind,, look tor this symbol 01 protection. Itt e. «in s We provide insurance protection that lets you sleep at night. That's because the collective strength of our 50 community based mutual insurers makes us among the most financially secure insurance networks in the world. 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