School board still examining potential impact of government funding cuts

After scrutinizing information provided by the province, Algoma District School Board (ADSB) officials have a somewhat clearer picture of how recently announced Ontario government education funding cuts will affect their board.

At Tuesday’s school board meeting, Joe Santa Maria, ADSB superintendent of business, told administrators and trustees the $25 million in cuts affect 20 types of government grants to the province’s 72 school boards.

“Our allotment (from those grants) is 1.5 per cent of our annual budget of approximately $150 million,” Santa Maria said.

The cuts will affect $250,000 to $300,000 in funding to the ADSB, Santa Maria estimated, adding board officials are still in the process of reviewing information as to how the board will be affected.

“We don’t see an impact in the 2018-2019 school year,” Santa Maria said, suggesting the cuts will not immediately affect staffing, but perhaps the board’s information technology.

As reported earlier by SooToday, Jennifer Sarlo, ADSB chair, expressed concern the cuts may affect funding for tutors in the board’s classrooms, student leadership and Indigenous programs and re-engagement strategies, which involve board officials reaching out to students who have dropped out of high school and encouraging them to return and explore options to help them graduate.