Rainbow District School Board Approves 2008-2009 Budget

Rainbow District School Board approved a budget of $159.7 million for the 2008-2009 school year at the regular Board meeting held on Monday, June 23, 2008.

The budget provides the financial framework for the Board to achieve its priorities – ensure success for all students, build public confidence, maintain safe schools, encourage community involvement, enhance communications, nurture staff, provide sound leadership, maximize the use of technology, allocate adequate resources, maintain quality facilities and focus on sustainability.

“The Province of Ontario continues to invest in education for the benefit of students in Rainbow Schools in Sudbury, Espanola and Manitoulin,” said Rainbow District School Board Chair Judy Hunda. “The Ministry of Education has three core priorities – high levels of student achievement, reducing gaps in student achievement and increased public confidence in publicly funded education. These goals are reflected in our Board priorities.”

In the budget, ongoing investments in education have been included in grants provided by the province – $323,556 for professional support for safe schools and the Restart programs for suspended and expelled students; $40,000 for the New Teacher Induction Program; $64,850 to support the cost of preparing and reporting financial information to the province; and funds for an additional 10 minutes of preparation time for elementary teachers (from 190 to 200 minutes).

The Province is providing additional funding in 2008-2009, as follows:
–    $8 million in special education funding for boards with declining enrolment;
–    an additional $361,617 for transportation;
–    a 1.4 per cent increase for school operations, including energy costs and utilities;
–    an increase in the benchmarks for staff benefits;
–    an increase of 1 per cent for textbooks, computers, resources and office supplies;
–    an increase in funding for second year immigrants;
–    an increase of approximately 30 per cent to the Program Enhancement Grant to support art, music, physical education and outdoor education programs;
–    an additional base allocation of $200,000 for administration for boards with declining enrolment;
–    more money for adult education and continuing education;
–    an increase in the per pupil allocation for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education revised to reflect the 2006 Census; and
–    funding for Specialist High Skills Major programs and libraries.

The Province is also providing new funding in 2008-2009 to enable Board’s to support community use of schools and capital funding to support growth and prohibitive to repair schools.

In addition to provincial allocations, Rainbow District School Board is investing in a number of Board initiatives, including the development of a design and technology program for Grade 7 and 8 students at Lively District Secondary School and Chelmsford Valley District Composite School, the Innovation Fund to foster best practices and inspire new creative ideas for programming, character development programs such as Roots of Empathy and RespectEd, late buses at Manitoulin Secondary School, Learning to 18 programs, and computer software training for staff. The budget also includes a one-time allocation of $1 million for the renewal of Sudbury Secondary School.

“Initiatives that are having a positive impact in the classroom will continue to be funded,” said Rainbow District School Board Chair Judy Hunda. This includes money for computers, strategies to support literacy and numeracy, the early reading intervention program and environmental initiatives.

A total of 79 per cent of the budget, $125.7 million, has been allocated to salaries and benefits for the Board’s teaching and non-teaching staff. Nine per cent of the budget will go towards supplies and services, eight per cent to fees and contracts and four per cent to capital and replacement projects in the 2008-2009 school year.

Like 60 of 72 school boards in Ontario, Rainbow District School Board continues to experience declining enrolment. Enrolment in 2008-2009 is projected to reach 15,363 students, a loss of 288 students (mostly in the elementary panel). As a result of declining enrolment, 75 teachers were declared redundant. Of these, a total of 56 teachers have now been placed in permanent positions for the 2008-2009 school year.

Rainbow District School Board provides quality programs and character education to students in Sudbury, Espanola and Manitoulin Island in 38 elementary and 9 secondary schools. The Board also operates educational programs at the Ruth MacMillan Centre, Frank Flowers School and Cecil Facer Secondary School.

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Media Contact:

Diane Cayen-Arnold, Superintendent of Business
Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171, ext. 7279 or 1-888-421-2661.