The Provincial Grants for Students Needs for 2015 – 2016 are better than expected for the Avon Maitland District School Board.
Business Superintendent Janet Baird-Jackson explains the grants are the major funding for schools and are based on student enrolment. She says the numbers are preliminary at this point but they indicate a reduction in funding of 1.4 million dollars based on a reduction in enrolment of 1.3 per cent.
Baird-Jackson says their own figures suggest the drop in enrolment will be greater than that. But she also points out they will be better off than many boards that have not right-sized their schools, which means consolidating schools to eliminate empty classrooms. Baird-Jackson points out the drop in enrolment at the elementary level that the board has been experiencing over the past few years has levelled off, but that drop in enrolment has moved into the secondary level and she says there's no doubt enrolment at the secondary level is going to drop for the next few years.
She adds they don't know at this time how much it will drop and how much that will eventually influence their funding.
