Bluewater District School Board meeting, June 16, 2015
Photo by Kirk ScottBluewater District School Board meeting, June 16, 2015 Photo by Kirk Scott
Midwestern

Bluewater School Board Budget Includes Education Assistant Layoffs

The Bluewater District School Board passed its budget for the coming year and that makes it official, 49 educational assistants are out of a job.

That's one-fifth of the number of E-A's employed by the board who work with special needs students.

Board chair Ron Motz blames the province for a $1.7-million cutback specifically for that program.

"We have no choice it's gotten to the point where if the Ministry of Education cuts funding to a specific area, we have to cut that area. We have no working reserves left, we have cut in every other area of the board," says Motz.

During the discussion, all trustees said it was a hard decision to make. Trustee David Mason called it "gut wrenching."

Motz says they hate to see people lose their jobs.

"We're a people organization, that's what we do, we work with people and it's really hard when we have to let people go because of budgetary reasons," he says.

The Bluewater Board passed a $197-million budget with a deficit of $480,000.

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