The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

33 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,M arch 28,2019 insidehalton.com Gardening Workshops for Homeowners! Conservation Halton is running gardening workshops this April to help homeowners learn about plant selection, landscaping techniques and more. Enhance your home's curb appeal in an environmentally friendly way without breaking the bank. conservationhalton.ca/healthyneighboursheds or call 905.336.1158 ext. 2324 Spaces are limited $8/workshop or $20 for all three Workshops run from 6:30pm-8:00pm Oakville: April 9, 16, 23 Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre Multi Purpose Room 1 & 2 (2302 Bridge Rd) Burlington: April 11, 18, 25 Tansley Woods Community Centre Community Room 2 (1996 Itabashi Way) Start planning your dream vacation with hand-picked travel deals and inspiration just for Canadians Visit "Caps on class sizes are so important to quality of learning for our children," wrote one respondent in the board survey. All responses were pre- sented to trustees anony- mously. The survey is meant to inform trustees' budget de- cisions. The board typically works through several drafts of the following year's budget during its spring meetings. The board's final 2019-2020 budget is expected to be passed at the last meet- ing before the summer, on June 18.June 18.J "Reductions in funding are expected for the 2019- 2020 budget, so stakehold- ers were consulted to help identify potential areas for achieving savings and effi- ciencies," states the report presented to trustees on Tuesday. The online survey was open from Feb. 19 to Feb. 28. More than 70 per cent of the respondents identified as parents within the board and 33 per cent were staff. (Multiple responses to the question were allowed, as teachers may also have chil- dren who attend the board, for example.) for example.) f Keating noted the re-Keating noted the re-K sponse rate was significant- ly lower than last year. In March 2018, the board was embroiled in a public scan- dal about whether it should cancel donations to chari- ties that support euthana- sia, abortion and stem-cell research. The issue domi- nated board meetings and spurred parent engage- ment, but Keating did not say if it drove higher survey response numbers. On the top three funding priorities identified in this year's consultation, 271 peo- ple said the board should fo- cus on academic achieve- ment, 204 supported en- hanced spending on special education and 208 priori- tized investment in class- room technology. When asked which areas should be cut, the largest group of respondents - 15 per cent - said the board shouldn't make any cuts whatsoever. "I feel our budget is stretched to the max and that cuts will impact the safety, well-being and suc- cess of our students," wrote one respondent. The most common areas suggested for cuts were ad- ministration and board-lev- el staff, suggested by 13 per cent of people who took the survey. Nine per cent sug- gested reducing support staff, another nine per cent suggested reducing teach- ers or their wages, and sev- en per cent supported re- ductions in professional de- velopment. "Do not compromise children's education," wrote one survey partici- pant. "Reduce teacher sala- ries and time off." NEWS Continued from page 32 SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM