The Limestone District School Board and Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board are both assessing the impact of the provincial government’s recently announced education funding cut.
On Friday, the Ontario government announced it is cutting $25 million from the $400-million Education Programs-Other (EPO) portfolio.
A spokesperson for Education Minister Lisa Thompson said in an emailed statement that the fund, despite accounting for a small amount of school board funding, “has a long track record of wasteful spending, overspending and millions of dollars of unfunded commitments.”
The EPO covers a number of school programs, such as in-school tutors and extra services for Indigenous and racialized students.
Jane Roberts, local branch president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario-Limestone, is more than concerned.
Roberts says her organization has been asking for more support for teachers and students, not less.
“The government’s saying, ‘Sorry, we’re going to take more away from you,'” said Roberts. “I just can’t imagine what it’s going to be like for students and for teachers.”
Roberts says she doesn’t know what the impact will be at this point.
“I know there have been programs cut over the last few years. I don’t know if it means there are going to be more programs cut or more supports taken out,” she added.
Andrea Loken, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation Limestone District 27, says secondary school teachers are dealing with the same issues that elementary teachers are facing.
“We don’t know the scope of it, but, again, these special programs are often for students who don’t have a lot outside of school,” Loken said, adding that she hopes school board trustees will be vocal about the cuts.
“We can’t let these kinds of announcements go unnoticed. We can’t sit on our hands and be apolitical so we’re hoping the trustees do step up and we will partner with them,” she said.
Not all EPO programs are offered by every school board in the province so the effect of the reduced funding will affect each school board differently.
—With files from The Canadian Press.