Lady Evelyn Alternative School Council

1
Lady Evelyn Alternative School Council

• Presentation to Board Budget Meeting
• November 6th 2002

2
The Problem

• The Education Act requires school boards to
  submit balanced budgets
• The Education Act requires school boards to
  provide quality education to their students
• More than 123 million in real dollars has been
  cut from the OCDSB since amalgamation and the
  imposition of the provincial funding model
• As money is cut, these first two mandates come
  into conflict

3
Lady Evelyn Impact

• Five years ago, Lady Evelyn had 12 EAs this year
  with over 50 IPRC'd children (Gifted, LD,
  Behavioural, Autism, ...) , our EAs were reduced
  from 7 to 4 and we lost 0.75 special education
  teacher.
• There is no paper towels supplied by the board
  for important messy work, such as art.
• Kids are told not to touch windows in our school
  since there is insufficient custodial services to
  clean them.
• Lady Evelyn has an 800 start time, which means
  kids have to be on the bus before 730 just to
  save money. This affects learning and makes for a
  long day.
• French is now taught on carts since the French
  rooms were closed in order to save cleaning costs.

4
Across the Board

• Schools cannot be built in high-growth areas
  outside the greenbelt without closing mostly-full
  schools downtown. This does not happen between
  Toronto and its growth areas, because the boards
  were divided differently.
• Special Education programmes to the most needy
  children have been cut year after year.
• The board is penalized in transportation funding
  because it was too efficient before amalgamation
• Students are leaving the board due to its
  deterioration.
• Thousands of children are on waiting lists for
  assessment
• This is not a Cadillac system we are seeking
  to meet basic needs.

5
Across the Province

• The three biggest boards, with 40 of Ontario's
  students, were unable to balance their budgets
• Other boards used capital funds for operating
  expenses to get in under the wire
• Most boards are not budgeting for salary
  negotiations
• All school board directors have signed a letter
  decrying the inadequate funding
• Many boards stated that they passed a balanced
  budget under protest or that their budget was
  balanced in name only
• The province has admitted a problem by appointing
  the Rozanski Commission

6
Moral Fibre

• We no longer have a Cadillac system
• Quality Education attracts the best workers and
  benefits the economy
• As budgets are cut, eventually the quality will
  be eliminated from education. We have reached
  that point.
• There is a funding crisis. We can tell the
  province to fix the revenue side or choose to
  damage our kid's education.
• As supervisor, you can stand up for what is
  right. This is a moral question -- you will have
  to live with the answer, long after you have
  retired from this job.

7
Let's Work Together...

• We will support you when you stand up for our
  children. As a good starting point, we urge you
  to look at what other boards have done
• Find new provincial money like the Hamilton
  supervisor did
• Request the money that the auditor found the
  province owed the board (10.2m for salaries,
  8-10m for spec. ed., 10m for transportation)
• Don't account for salary negotiations
• Spread debt repayment over a longer period
• Look for found money in employee benefits plan
• Protect our children's education If you think
  education is expensive, try ignorance