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Shortchanged

July 02, 2009 17:07

Despite what anyone thinks about battle between the County of Simcoe and and the McGuinty government over the province's new growth plan for the region, it's hats off to Simcoe County Warden Tony Guergis this week on a completely separate issue.

Guergis called for a concerted effort to be made to lobby the Ministry of Education for more funding for Simcoe schools.

"Why is Simcoe County consistently getting a lower level of funding than other areas of the GTA or the province?" asked Guergis. "We need to support rapidly growing communities like Simcoe County."

At a recent Simcoe County District School Board meeting, board staff told trustees the Simcoe board has been on the lower end of the provincial funding scale for the past few years.

With rapid growth slated for the area in the coming years, Guergis said the shortfall to Simcoe County schools is of particular concern.

The problem is, with the enormous size of the geographic area covered by the Simcoe board, there is disparity in the growth and enrolment - and enrolment is how the province doles out the funds.

In areas closer to the GTA where many commuters are choosing to live, like Barrie, Alliston and Innisfil, school enrolment is on the increase. But in the farther reaches of the county, like Collingwood and Midland, numbers of students are dropping.

As a result some secondary schools in the board have closed portions of their buildings because of a lack of students, while the relatively new Bear Creek Secondary School in Barrie is over capacity and already scheduled for expansion.

Boards start with the same per-pupil funding but the amount changes as boards apply for the various special grants. They include funding for transportation, funding for boards experiencing declining enrolment and funding for special education.

Guergis is worried that the ministry doesn't understand the challenges that are specific to the Simcoe board - challenges like increased transportation costs for one. If he's right, and there's no reason to suspect he isn't, that's a grave concern and it needs to be addressed.

Guergis said it is the responsibility of all local politicians to communicate Simcoe's challenges to the provincial government and he's absolutely right, but it's also the responsibility of area residents.

Simcoe County and Barrie boast some stellar schools and student achievement despite being short changed on provincial funding for years. Isn't it time our board of education was rewarded for its efforts, rather than being punished by being given less and less?

We can help the warden in his efforts by writing our MPPs and Education Minister Kathleen Wynne. You can send her an e-mail through the ministry's Web site at www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/about/contact.html. Be sure to click the box that indicates you would like a response.

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