Board Budget Cuts
I'm not sure if anyone has heard, but the School Board is going to have around a $25 million shortfall in their 2007-2008 budget. This means they are looking at ways to save money. One such way is the elimination of transportation services to "special" programs.
Here is an excerpt from the Management Plan for the 2007-2008 Budget, a document to deal with the shortfall by Dr. Rachlis, Director of Education of the Board.
Eliminate transportation entitlement for:
• Secondary Gifted 95 students $180,000
• IB Program 50 students $120,000
• Canterbury Arts Program 210 students $240,000
Total Transportation Reductions to be made in 2007-2008 $540,000
Most of these are rural students with the exception of a small number who qualify under the distance and length of travel time using public transit criteria established by the Board. Students will be required to arrange their own transportation to these programs. In some cases, students may choose to attend their local community school.
This means anyone in the gifted program at Bell who lives outside of the board's "UTA" will not be given the same treatment as other students. The UTA is "The Urban Transit Area" (UTA) means the area where homes are located within 1.0 km of an OC Transpo bus stop providing regular service.
What the board is doing is denying rural students access to programs they are entitled to. What about equal access?
I know the board needs to save money, but in the Management Plan they have found ways to save millions of dollars without huge unfairness. They need to cut programs, they need to reduce expenditures, but they do not need to provide unequal opportunities to students.
If you agree that this is unfair, please send an email or letter to your school trustee. They have not made any final decisions on this yet, so we can still have an impact.
You can find your trustee at http://www.ocdsb.ca/Board/Trustees_2006_10.htm
Thanks for reading!
Here is an excerpt from the Management Plan for the 2007-2008 Budget, a document to deal with the shortfall by Dr. Rachlis, Director of Education of the Board.
Eliminate transportation entitlement for:
• Secondary Gifted 95 students $180,000
• IB Program 50 students $120,000
• Canterbury Arts Program 210 students $240,000
Total Transportation Reductions to be made in 2007-2008 $540,000
Most of these are rural students with the exception of a small number who qualify under the distance and length of travel time using public transit criteria established by the Board. Students will be required to arrange their own transportation to these programs. In some cases, students may choose to attend their local community school.
This means anyone in the gifted program at Bell who lives outside of the board's "UTA" will not be given the same treatment as other students. The UTA is "The Urban Transit Area" (UTA) means the area where homes are located within 1.0 km of an OC Transpo bus stop providing regular service.
What the board is doing is denying rural students access to programs they are entitled to. What about equal access?
I know the board needs to save money, but in the Management Plan they have found ways to save millions of dollars without huge unfairness. They need to cut programs, they need to reduce expenditures, but they do not need to provide unequal opportunities to students.
If you agree that this is unfair, please send an email or letter to your school trustee. They have not made any final decisions on this yet, so we can still have an impact.
You can find your trustee at http://www.ocdsb.ca/Board/Trustees_2006_10.htm
Thanks for reading!