Grand Erie trustees approve 2019-20 budget

To The Haldimand Press

HALDIMAND—Grand Erie District School Board Trustees approved the operating and capital budgets for the 2019-20 school year.

“Every day, in every decision we make, our main focus is our students,” said Board Chair Greg Anderson. “At a challenging and difficult time for all school boards in Ontario, we achieved a balanced budget without having to draw on reserves, we successfully delivered on our promise to complete the financial recovery plan on time, and we kept the indicators of our Multi-Year Plan, Success for Every Student, at the forefront of our decision-making process.”

Grand Erie was able to balance its 2019-20 budget despite an overall reduction in funding. The Board is also on track to complete its Ministry-imposed Multi-Year Financial Recovery Plan in August 2019. In achieving both goals, the Board never lost sight of its number one priority: students.

Grand Erie’s total operating budget for 2019-20 is $321,672,098. This is a decrease of 1.54%, or $5,037,381, from 2018-19. Impacts on Grand Erie’s 2019-20 budget include the Ministry of Education’s New Vision for Education, which features changes to both elementary and secondary class-size averages, as well as delays in the announcement of funding initiatives known as the Priorities and Partnerships Fund. Grand Erie is further impacted by declining enrolment and the end of Local Priority Funding, which expires August 31, 2019.