The Greater Essex County District School Board is battling with a $4.4-million deficit and school closures aren't out of the question.
In fact they need to be part of the solution, according to Superintendent of Business and Treasurer Cathy Lynd. "The funding (model) is now penalizing school boards that don't address their excess capacity," says Lynd. "So, I think it is something that definitely has to be part of the overall solution."
Changes to provincial funding will add $2-million to the board's existing $2.4-million shortfall over the next three years.
Lynd says the board can only take so much out of its reserves to cover a deficit. "The ministry allows you to have a deficit of up to 1% of your operating revenues. For us that varies between $3.5-$4-million per year," says Lynd. "So that's the largest deficit that we could budget. Now, of course, we want to budget better than that. We'll work towards that and we'll start this year."
On a positive note, Lynd says the board will receive a $12.6-million boost in upgrading aging schools, which is up from $4-million previously.