NEWS RELEASE
DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD ONTARIO NORTH EAST
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District School Board Ontario North East trustees approved a budget of just over $119-million dollars at a special Board meeting on June 22.
“We are very pleased to be able to arrive at a compliant budget for the 2015/16 school year,” says Superintendent of Business, Pearl Fong-West.
“It was difficult with the current changes to education funding made by the Ministry to encourage Boards to effectively utilize space. With declining enrollment, the underutilization of our school buildings has become a significant issue. However, administration was able to maintain existing learning programs and introduce a 1 to 1 iPad Program within an Operating Budget of $119,056,075.”
The 1 to 1 iPad program will see iPads distributed to 1,898 Grade 7 to 10 students beginning in September.
To support the program, the Board has also put iPad coaches and an iPad Lead in place.
Training has been provided to 586 teachers, with more to come.
The program will require $1,458,800 in capital spending and $844,775 in operational spending in 2015-16.
The Operating budget represents a compliant budget but not a balanced budget.
The total operating expense budget is $119,056,075.
The total operating revenue budget is $118,719,040, resulting in an in-year deficit of $337,035.
The Capital Budget for 2015-16 has been calculated at $9,449,018.
Major projects to be undertaken at schools are estimated to be $6,953,918 and will be funded by our School Renewal and School Condition Improvement grants.
The remaining $2,495,100 will be spent on furniture and equipment.
Most collective agreements in the education sector expired August 31, 2014.
Under the statutory freeze provisions of the Ontario Labour Relations Act, existing terms and conditions of employment, unless specifically time limited in the previous collective agreements, continue in the 2015-16 school year.
The compensation and other labour costs in the 2015-16 school year reflect this freeze.
Salaries for all staff continue to be frozen with grid movement on the 97th day. 2015/16 Budget Details:
Operating Budget $119,056,075
Capital Budget $9,449,018
Total Staffing Complement 968.02 Full Time Employees
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