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11 Gap in per-pupil funding widens for Catholic and public students by Kathy Yanchus Metroland West Media | Thursday, May 4 , 2 0 1 7 | The gap between provincial allocation funding between the Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB) and the Halton District School Board (HDSB) is widening. A budget strategy session presented at last Tuesday' s regular m eeting of the board showed HCDSB lagging behind 12 GTA school boards. "We've always been in the bottom two or three for at least around 10 years, however, for m ost of the last four to five years w e' ve been competing for the bottom spot, between us and the Halton public board," said Roxana Negoi, HCDSB superintendent of business services and treasurer of the board. For the school year 2014/2015, HCDSB was second from the bottom in a listing of the 12 GTA boards for per pupil funding. For 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 the Halton Catholic board was at the bottom of the list and projected per-pupil provincial allocation funds for next year, once again places HCDSB at the bottom of the list. "We can't take that all in isolation. It' s not good news but w e have to realize there' s certain grants other boards would receive for additional support for conditions w e don't have, so w e don' t have costs going along with that either." "If the board removes grant allocations that don't apply to us and w e compare apples to apples, the story is the same: w e are the lowest per pupil funded board. Take away capital, and w e're still the lowest per pupil funded board," said Negoi. Grants for student needs (GSN) factor in a number of areas such as transportation, special education, teachers, resources, school administration, school operations, special education and transportation, as well as continuing education. "It' s meant to cover everything in terms of publicly funded education." Two areas in particular struck senior finance staff as odd in terms of lower funding than their co-terminus board -- special education funding, where HCDSB is $46 per pupil below HDSB and transportation where the formula works out to $36 less per HCDSB pupil. "Transportation is one area I can' t pinpoint w hy w e're lower than the public board. We're in the same region, same consortia, same walking distances...that particular one puzzles m e." In total, next year' s projections show HCDSB per pupil allocations will be $247 less see Halton on p.14 OAKVILLE BEAVER | w w w .insideH A LTO N .com 2501 Third Line, Oakville (Third Line and Dundas) 905-827-0700 www.skywayjewellers.com O u r F lo or M o d e l f MIX'N M ATCH SALE ends M o n d a y ! at the Queens Avenue Retirement Residence E x p e rie n c e a retirem ent co m m u n ity w h ere tradition m e e ts ch arm ! D e s ig n e d to p rom ote the p erfe ct life b a la n ce . C o m e v ie w o u r n e w m odel su ite a n d e x p lo re w h at the Q u e e n s A v e n u e Retirem en t co m m u n ity h a s to offer. Live Balanced - Live Better S L E E P Call 905-815-0862 or email info@queensavenueretirement.com to book a visit. Queens Avenue Q ueens A v en u e R e tire m e n t R esidence 1 0 5 6 Q ueens A v en u e O akville, O n ta rio L 6 H 6R 3 w w w . q u een saven u eretirem en t. com FACTORY Retirement Residence Q -- -the--------------------- M IL T O N Sleep Factory 1 w w w.sleepfactory.com 238 Main Street, East · 9 0 5 . 8 7 8 .4 6 0 6 M IS S IS S A U G A 2150 Burnhamthorpe Road · 9 0 5 . 542.0481 HOURS: M onday-W ednesday 10am - 6pm ·Thursday - Fraiday 10am -8pm * Saturday 9am - 6pm · Sunday 11am -5pm