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"Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 14, 2000 - 3 Board officials not sure if funding helps or hurts By Rik Davie Special to the Star The Durham District School Board may not know for a week if any of the new education funding announced by the province last week will help or hurt the region's beleaguered public schools. The $190 million in funding to Ontario school boards announced by Education Minister Janet Ecker late last week sounds good on paper, says board Chair Doug Ross. But the actual figures coming to Durham may still leave the board short in some areas. "The grants are still handed out based on individual student enrollment and other criteria," said Mr. Ross. "There is no guarantee that we will get the funds to help in areas where we have experienced short- falls." The Durham board, _| along with several : 4 other boards across Bobbie Drew the province, has been lobbying the province to take another look at funding for such pro- grams as special education. The board has been forced to make severe cutbacks to special ed due to shortfalls in provin- cial funding. According to board staff, another $2 million in special education funding will have to be cut unless there are changes to the current funding formula. And early reports indicate that despite higher costs for student bus ser- vices - including higher costs for fuel - no increase for transportation is coming in the new funding wave. Scugog trustee Bobbie Drew hopes a clearer picture of the funding announce- ment will be ready for next Monday's (March 20) board meeting. "We can't really say whether we will see any benefits from the funding pack- age in some areas - or any areas - until staff have gone over the figures ard we trustees have a chance to look at the dol- lars going to each area," said Mrs. Drew. The last round of education funding increases actually saw the Durham public board's levels lowered in some funding areas. Mr. Ross and Mrs. Drew both stressed that it is too early to say what, if any, effect the education dollars will have in Durham classrooms. Trustees are expected to have num- bers on where the new funding is being directed March 20. April closure date for local ag office? Port Perry's Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) office is taking no bookings for its meeting room beyond April I, which means it will soon be closing its doors for good, says Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt. The province announced a plan late last year to close community OMAFRA offices and replace them with 17 dis- trict centres. Port Perry's regional office will be in Lindsay. Scugog councillors sent a letter objecting to the move to the ministry last year, outlining the impor- tance and history of the office in Port Perry. The township received no response from the gov- ernment, said Mayor Moffatt. "We didn't get anything back, which 1 don't think was very polite, but the region did," he said. "They TRANSMISSION SPECIALISTS got a letter about four or six weeks ago and they sent it back." The letter from the min- istry, which included alter- nate meeting spots and services for area farmers, was full of errors, said Mr. Moffatt. Now there is "very little or nothing" the municipali- ty can do to save the local OMAFRA office, said Mayor Moffatt. OMAFRA official Joel Bagg last week had little information on the future of the Vanedward Dr office. "I haven't heard any- thing for sure, but we're not taking any room bookings after April 1," he said Friday. Rob Black, a field man- ager for the ministry, also offered little information. "Details are still being worked out, there are still negotiations going on over office closures and staff layoffs," he said last week. "Nothing is finalized yet." We've Moved! eo Automotive & Marine e Serviced & Rebuilt e Warranty Available COMPLETE GENERAL REPAIRS 178 Reach Industrial Park Rd. (905) 985-2659 BINA £ | [ [oN FR SATLI Bl @C | ©) ING/SUMMER 2 BRECKS On fool