June 21, 2022 9:25 p.m
The Windsor-Essex English Catholic Schools Board has officially approved $282 million in funding for the upcoming school year.
During its June 15 board meeting, the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) approved a balanced budget of $282.4 million to be used for the 2022-2023 school year. The budget was presented for a week and returned to trustees on Tuesday when it was subsequently approved.
“Each year we consult closely with our community, and our administration develops a budget based on what our constituents identify as their top concerns for our students,” board chairman Fulvio Valentinis said in a press release. “This year we heard from more than 4,700 people who identified student learning in literacy and math, mental health and students with special needs as their top priorities. We believe this budget addresses all of these concerns,” said Valentinis.
Budget highlights include:
• $2.09 million from the Ontario Supports for Students Fund.
• $3.19 million from the COVID-19 Learning Recovery Fund to support temporary supplemental teachers, early childhood educators, educational assistants and other education workers to address learning recovery.
• $448,847 from student mental health investment.
• $193,741 from Local Priorities for Special Education to support students with special educational needs.
• $78,460 to increase the amount of special equipment per student to provide more assistive technology for students with special educational needs.
The budget is based on projected enrollment of over 20,000 students in 2022-23, an increase of 225 students over estimates for the previous school year.
“With approximately two-thirds of education funding based on enrollment, the increase in enrollment over 2022-23 represents approximately $1.6 million in additional grant revenue for the board, for a total of $281.6 million,” it said it in a statement from the WECDSB.
The school board said the remainder of the budget’s expenses not funded by grants or other revenue sources are funded by the board’s accumulated surplus.
*Correction: A version of this story published on June 15, 2022 said the budget had been approved. The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board then clarified that final approval would come at the next Trustees’ meeting on 21 June 2022.
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