Peel board approves budget, despite $124 million funding gap

Trustees of the Peel District School Board approved a budget of $1.2 billion for the 2007-08 school year. This balanced budget is a $73 million increase in Ministry of Education funding from last year. However, the funding gap between grants and actual costs in areas such as transportation and staff costs is $45 million.

"Obviously, there is some good news. Our funding is up about seven per cent. There are positive provincial initiatives," said Janet McDougald, chair of the board. "But - and it is a big one - the fact remains that the Peel District School Board, the children of Peel, receive a grant that is the third lowest in the province. This funding level translates into a funding gap of $883 less for each and every Peel student. It totals over $120 million."

The increase in the board's budget is due to several factors.

Enrolment growth of 1.8 per cent accounts for about $20 million.

The board has built five new elementary schools and one new secondary school, along with 27 major additions - 14 of which are for primary class size reduction.

The funding of $9 million for primary class size will allow the board to hire 112 new teachers in 2007-08. This funding will allow the Peel board to meet the ministry expectation of 90 per cent of primary classrooms having no more than 20 students.

The funding will provide a three per cent salary benchmark increase, cover the full cost of teacher preparation time, and provide additional elementary and secondary specialist teachers.

The ministry funding for 2007-08 raises the following concerns for the Peel board.

The gap between ministry grants and actual salary and benefit costs remains at $20 million.

Actual transportation costs still exceed grants by $6.5 million. Transportation in the Peel board has been under-funded for the past decade.

There is no grant to cover the relocation of portables, which is expected to cost the board $5.5 million in 2007- 08.

The cost of special education programs is $5 million more than the grants provided.

Changes to the funding formula designed to support smaller schools have had the unintended impact of reducing the grant for principals and viceprincipals in Peel by $4.6 million.

The Peel board has a funding shortfall of $4 million for supply teachers, despite spending less than the provincial average in this area.

For more information about the Peel board budget, go to www.peelschools.org. For a complete copy of the budget, call 905-890-1010 (or 1-800-668-1146) ext. 2012.