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Public school board okays budgets... TIM WHITNELL Special to The IFP The Halton District School Board passed its operating and capital budgets for 2006-07 with relative ease Monday. Eight of the 11 school board trustees were present for the special meeting and unanimously accepted board staff's recommendation of a $359.4 million operating budget and $21.4 million capital projects budget for a total budget for the next school year of $380.8 million, a $22.1-million-increase over the 2005-06 total budget. Notable in the 2006-07 budget is the board agreed to dip into its special education reserve fund for $1.12 million to meet upcoming program requirements for special needs students. In addition, the board also used its remaining capital reserve fund of $1.54 million in order to balance the capital portion of the budget. As well, a debt of $2 million in operating the Centre For Skills Development and Training and the Halton Learning Foundation-- board-operated career workforce/training and school program fundraising groups respectively-- is expected to be managed through five payments of $400,000 annually. The board approved the first repayment in the new budget. Trustees also gave approval to a report from the board of directors of the Halton Learning Foundation. It called for forgiveness of its current debt and attaining the goal of moving from a 1:1 ratio of attracting fundraising dollars to HLF costs to at least a 3:1 ratio in the near future. Other issues of interest trustees wanted clarification on before voting on the budget included the costs to the board of vandalism and the reason for adding learning coaches to schools. A total of $1.1 million was in the `05-06 budget to cover vandalism to school property; the same amount was budgeted for 2006-07. Another budget item that caught the eye of trustees was the addition of $350,000 for five learning coaches. The individuals will work in schools with teachers to provide on-site professional development and mentoring programs. Education Director Wayne Joudrie told trustees the learning coaches would be at the elementary level and concentrate on helping high-needs pupils, such as those who are achieving below Level 3, the provincial standard, on Ontario-wide reading, writing and math tests. ··· Joudrie announced that the Ministry of Education had given approval to Ontario's school boards to add two Professional Activity Days to the 2006-07 school year calendar. The additional PA Days for elementary and secondary teachers gives school boards six. The extra dates will be Friday, Nov. 3, and Friday, April 27, 2007. The other dates are Oct. 6, Dec. 8, Feb. 2 and June 29. Traffic, parking bylaws amended Halton Hills council recently approved 70 amendments in 34 locations around town to the Town's traffic and parking control regulations bylaw. They include parking restrictions and speed reductions as well as signage in new subdivisions. ...and so does Halton Catholic board HOWARD MOZELL Special to The IFP The Halton Catholic District School Board has approved its budget estimates for 2006/2007. At last week's board meeting, trustees voted in favour of the $222 million submission to the Ministry of Education. The operating expenditure estimates of $205.4 million and capital expenditures of $16.6 million have been matched with revenue projections to produce a balanced budget for the next academic year. Superintendent of Business Services and Treasurer Paul McMahon characterized it as a "status quo, compliance budget" and one that saw its fair share of challenges, a sentiment with which Director of Education Lou Piovesan agrees. "In order to achieve a balanced 2006/2007 budget it was necessary to use the remainder of the monies in the Special Education and Classroom Reserve Funds," said Piovesan. "However, despite the ongoing budget challenges, we were able to achieve a balanced budget without making cuts in any of the Board's operational areas." The overall increase in enrolment projected by the Board for the 2006/2007 school year and the staffing requirements are reflected in the budget, which provides for an increase in classroom spending of approximately 4.9 per cent. In addition this year, the province has recognized the variance between the amounts set in the funding allocation and the actual expenses of school boards across Ontario, and has taken a LOU first step towards PIOVESAN realigning the two. Another important aspect of this budget is the continuation of the Primary Class Size Reduction initiative, now in its third year. This has resulted in approximately $1.3 million in additional funding for 2006/2007, which is being allocated to meet the Ministry's requirement to reduce the average class size for the primary grades (Junior Kindergarten to Grade 3) down to a ratio of 20:1 for the 2007/2008 school year. In addition, the Ministry has recognized the escalating increase in utilities and school operation costs and has provided additional grant funding to address these needs. However, this additional funding is not sufficient to match the increased costs of utilities actually experienced by the Board. With such future challenges in store, McMahon cautioned that despite balancing the budget this time around, the Board will be "looking at a tight year" for 2007/2008-- the final year of the four-year teacher salary framework agreements. Tab for parking fines increase The Town of Halton Hills has changed its set fines for parking infractions. Set fines refer to out-of-court settlement for minor offences. The last time the set fines were changed occurred in 1992, and staff recommended the fines increase to bring them more in line with other municipalities. The fines will increase about $10 or $20 more than the current ones. For example, the fine for parking on a sidewalk will increase from $20 to $30 or obstructing snow removal while parked will increase from $30 to $50. The penalty for parking in a designated disabled person parking space was also changed from a proposed $500 to $350, because the Attorney General Office's would not allow the higher amount. Sunday Worship 10:00am