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3 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,M ay 9,2019 theifp.ca Spring is back, and so is our 14th Annual Super Spring Special*ON NOW ! - Oil & Filter (Includes up to 6 litres regular oil.) - Complete top to bottom check over - Installation of summer tires (already on rims) included. - $5.00 Tim's Card - Windshield Washer Fluid eXTraS $8995 Call for an Appointment *Most Vehicles. Prices are +HST 45 Mountainview Rd. N., Georgetown 905.877.7958 hassellsauto@bellnet.ca • hassellautomotive.comSALES & SERVICE $69956995 Only Synthetic oil (up to 6 litres) Gold 2018 Halton Hills Silver 2018 Halton Hills The Halton District School Board's budget has yet to be made public, but there is already confirma- tion of more layoffs and a "significant program" cut proposed. Recent layoff notices to child and youth counsellors, social workers and speech language pathologists re- presented a 5.5 per cent re- duction in front line service to the most vulnerable stu- dents, said Tom Golightly, president of the Profession- al Student Services Person- nel District 20 Halton of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation. "At a time when student needs and pupil enrolment are increasing, this reduc- tion in service levels will mean that children lose sup- port and wait longer for psy- choeducational and speech and language assessments," said Golightly. "Fewer students will have access to social worker and child and youth coun- sellor support in their schools, leaving our needi- est students without help. The long-term financial and social cost will outweigh any short-term financial savings." The "short-sighted" cuts will affect students strug- gling with learning disabili- ties, autism, mental health illness, behavioural chal- lenges, poverty, poor atten- dance and other complex needs, said Golightly. The fallout of the recent potentially redundant notic- es issued to 154 elementary and 154 secondary school teachers will greatly impact the board's operations and student learning experienc- es, director of education Stu- art Miller has already warned. Among those whose jobs were eliminated were Bron- te Creek Project instructors; the environmental leader- ship course is now on the chopping block. Students who have chosen the four- credit outdoor program, which has been in existence for almost 30 years, will have to reselect courses. "We talk about this just about every year at budget time because it's a very ex- pensive program," said Da- vid Boag, associate director of education. "There's no disagreement around the quality of the program; we think it's a good program for kids. We've debated it a lot this year." With a budget estimated at more than half a million, it was hard to justify the numbers, said Boag. (Costs included transportation, lease of the Sidrabene prop- erty on Appleby Line, two full-time teachers plus two teaching assistants.) "For the last several years we've only gotten on average 15 kids per class. In addition to the one teacher in the class, there's also a teaching assistant so we have two adults with on average 15 kids (per class), whereas in our schools, we're going to have one adult on average and in many cases, numbers (of students) into the mid-30s, so there's a significant dis- crepancy there," said Boag. "Our recommendation is that this program no longer run, but ultimately it's the board of trustees that will make the decision," said Boag. For much of its 30-year history, the Bronte Creek Project had between 60-80 students per year with a wait-list. About 13 years ago, due to dwindling numbers, the program was divided in- to two, one for grades 11/12 and a new Grade 10 course. "It would be huge loss to students to cancel it, espe- cially at a time when teach- ing kids about nature and our planet is so important," said parent Denise Davy, who urged the board to look at creative ways to save pro- grams, by charging a fee NEWS MORE LAYOFFS, PROGRAM CUTS AS SCHOOL BOARD FINALIZES BUDGET THE ISSUE: SCHOOL BOARD BUDGET LOCAL IMPACT: FALLOUT OF REDUNDANT NOTICES TO TEACHERS TO AFFECT BOARD OPERATIONS, STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCES KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com See RECALLS, page 4 The Halton District School Board's budget confirms that more layoffs and program cuts are to come. Torstar file photo