The Chair for District School Board Ontario Northeast (DSB-One) says a recent funding announcement regarding support towards special needs students is leaving their board behind.

And Doug Shearer says he’s not the only one who says so.

Education Minister Mitzie Hunter touted a $22 million dollar funding agreement back on May 19th in Sudbury to help special needs students in Ontario.

$15-million dollars of that money is through GSN (Grants for Student Needs) funding and $7-million through EPO (Education Program Grants).

However, Shearer explains that only $4.5 million of the $7 million dollar EPO will be shared among 19 English boards in the North. The other $2.5-million will be shared among six French boards.

Here’s a bit of a breakdown of where the money is going.

  • Overall, $13 million of the total amount will go to boards in Northern Ontario and the remaining $9 million will benefit other boards in the province.
  • Around 20,000 students with special needs across Northern Ontario stand to benefit.
  • $11-million of the $22-million dollars is going to French-language boards.

“This is in addition to the General Student Needs document this Spring which classified all French schools as “remote” schools eligible for additional funding,” he explains in a release, “English public boards enjoy that privilege only in schools that are actually remote.”

“All due respect to the French board, their enrollment is far far below what the English public boards have,” Shearer told Rogers Media Wednesday.

“We have 300 students in our board that need assessment for their special needs, and yet, we’re not seeing a really balanced funding approach by the government.”

Shearer goes on to explain via the release that the boards will come together to see what they can do to use the funding wisely. But he adds they won’t be sitting back and will be pressing for answers at this weekend’s Ontario Public School Board Association annual meeting.

“When we continually see French boards advantaged through funding and our boards can’t get the resources we need, is it any wonder why we’re struggling to achieve good results in graduation rates, credit accumulation, and in having our students properly assessed to meet their critical needs?” Shearer asks.

“We can’t compete – and it’s just plain wrong.”

Filed under: Local News