MUSKOKA, ON-The Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board has approved its 2020-2021 budget.
The board announced it’s budget of $279,431,785 on Thursday.
In a press release, the board said this funding is based on enrollment as well as special funds that are allocated from the Ministry of Education, called Grants for Students Needs (GSNs).
The projected enrolment remains static at just under 22,000 students, and the government did not make any significant changes to its GSNs allocation to the various school boards. This would leave staff able to present trustees with a status quo budget, allowing consistent funding for delivery programs and services during this unprecedented time.
Board Chair Joe Zerdin said the priority of their staff was to present a budget that maintains programs for students as much as possible despite experiencing a relatively flat enrollment numbers.
“It was definitely a difficult process for school boards across the province because we are all struggling with so much uncertainty related to COVID-19 and trying to plan for what the new school year will look like,” Zerdin said. “In the meantime, this budget enables us to, at a minimum, continue providing students with the programs and services they benefitted from last year, pre-COVID-19.”
The board realizes that there will be unknown financial burdens when students return to school, and they will attempt to plan for that with anticipated support from the Ministry.