The Bluewater District School Board approved a budget of $190,288,049 at a special meeting.
Trustees and staff gathered once again on Monday, June 22 to go over $4 million in cuts and adjustments to balance the budget according to the rules laid out in the Education Act.
Cuts included a reduction in kilometer rates, reduced payments to existing deficit, fewer dollars for supply teachers and professional development, reduced number of portable classrooms, a cut to school budgets in light of recent textbook grants, cuts to the plant operations and supplies budget and a reduction in contact teachers, who act as additional resources for classroom teachers.
According to Meaford and The Blue Mountains trustee Paul Wehrle, some of the contact teachers who usually spend time outside the classroom as resources for other teachers will simply be put back in the classroom full time.
The balanced budget was born out of several board discussion hours and staff efforts to find realistic reductions. The approved budget reflects declining enrollment and some reduction in funding from the province to areas including transportation, staff development, classroom computers and textbooks, according to a report presented to the board by staff.
"I feel good," said Wehrle about the balanced budget. "When staff originally presented the balanced budget I thought they'd done some good work and I was pretty happy with that."
As for the many hours of discussion, Wehrle said he was glad for it because it allowed the board to obtain information it might not otherwise have had.
"Some people felt we should divert more resources into the classroom," said Wehrle. Quite frankly, I don't know how we would do it."
The local trustee is new to the school board scene having been hired in May and being presented with the working budget the day after his interview.
"I think next year I'll be coming from a position of better understanding," said Wehrle, adding that his frustration with the budget this year was, fundamentally, from a lack of knowledge.
For more information about the board's approved 2009/2010 budget, visit the website at www.bwdsb.on.ca
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