Rainbow school board sets $172M balanced budget

The largest public school board in northern Ontario, Rainbow District School Board, at its meeting Tuesday, approved a budget of $172 million for the 2013-2014 school year.

"The board significantly reduced its ongoing expenditures in recent years," said board chair Doreen Dewar.

"These savings, coupled with the declining-enrolment grant that we received this year, enabled us to align our expenditures to meet our revenue," she said, meaning the board has a balanced budget.

The board's declining enrolment and declining revenue meant it qualified for a $1.6 million grant from the province.

However, Dewar said, total provincial grants have declined by about two per cent.

The board expects enrolment next September will be more than 13,000 students. But that is more than 500 fewer than the last school year.

Of the board's total budget, 76 per cent, or $130 million, will go to salaries and benefits for the full-time equivalent of 1,526 employees. But that is almost 40 fewer than last year.

There will be 12 fewer elementary teachers, 20 fewer secondary school teachers, as well as two fewer administrators. There will also be reductions in other positions, such as educational assistants.

On the other hand, the board is adding six early childhood teachers, and one mental-health specialist.

The increase in the number of early childhood teachers results partly from a provincial grant of $5.6 million for an early-learning program.

Rainbow District School Board operates 35 elementary schools and 9 secondary schools in Sudbury, Espanola, Manitoulin and Shining Tree.