Later than usual, Catholic school board approves $95M budget

The Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board’s 2024-25 budget — $95,081,179 in total and approved by trustees in a special meeting Friday — contains money for several new hires.

Key among those is the addition of a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics) classroom teacher and a lab technician.

The board’s STEAM Lab is located at Holy Angels Learning Centre.

The H-SCDSB’s budget was approved later in the school year than usual, coming nine days after the board’s final regular meeting held June 12.

“I wouldn’t say there was a delay,” Justin Pino, H-SCDSB superintendent of business, told reporters after Friday’s meeting.

“I would call it more budget deliberations. We presented an initial draft of the budget and had some discussions among the senior team and trustees and through that process they instructed management to go back and see if we could find some dollars for some of the initiatives we’re presenting this evening.”

Apart from the addition of a STEAM classroom teacher and lab technician, other new positions approved by the board in the 2024-25 budget include:

• a special education transitions navigator
• a human rights and equity advisor 
• a behaviour coach
• a student and family counsellor

Those new employees will be in place for September, Pino said, with recruitment efforts for those positions to start soon.

The budget also includes:

• continuation of the board’s Math Action Plan
• continuation of Reading Intervention Supports
• addition of the Specialized Teaching and Resource (STAR) program for Grades 7 and 8  
• expansion of school-based multilingual language learner special assignment teachers  
• expansion of the Outdoor Education Program at the board’s St. Kateri Outdoor Learning Centre from grades 6 and 7 to grades 6, 7 and 8 (an extra 22 students as a result)
• summer mental health supports for students over the summer months  
• additional tutoring supports to improve student achievement  
• continued spending on trade-based programs like the Specialist High Skills Major  
• continued commitment toward technology improvements/upgrades for infrastructure and devices 

“The budget includes many exciting initiatives incorporated into it, all designed with our students at the forefront," Pino told the board. "It is designed to enhance student achievement and well being, enhance programs and deliverables to students, enhance equity and inclusivity to address the growing need in our schools."

New for 2024-25 is the Ministry of Education’s announcement of Core Education Funding, also known as Core Ed and formerly known as Grants for Student Needs (GSN) announced by the Ministry of Education on April 26, 2024. 

Also new is Responsive Education Programs (REP) funding.

A major REP grant for the board is continued funding of the Math Achievement Plan and allows the board to establish a math lead at the Superintendent level and continued math facilitator positions.

There are other REP grants for an Indigenous Grad Coach and new Special Education Needs Transition funding.

The board’s 2024-25 budget is based on projected numbers of 3,713 elementary students and 823 secondary students for Oct. 2024.

Compared to Oct. 2023, that’s down by 28 students at the elementary level and up by 50 at the secondary level.

There is a projected number of 4,536 students overall for Oct. 2024, up by 22 students compared to Oct. 2023.

As things now stand, the total number of teachers for the board for the fall is approximately 232 with the possibility of one full time equivalent being added.

Pino said there is traditionally an uptick in JK enrolment over the summer months.

Meanwhile, Pino told reporters the H-SCDSB is not facing the same student transportation difficulties as the Algoma District School Board (ADSB) heading into the new school year and beyond.

As reported earlier, the ADSB reported a funding gap in student transportation and that if the current funding model is not changed it could result in significant impacts on the delivery of transportation in ADSB communities, such as increased walking distances for some students.

An ADSB deficit of approximately $250,000 would be larger - as much as $750,000 - if not for Ministry of Education transitional funding, said Joe Santa Maria, ADSB associate director of corporate services and operations earlier in June.

The ADSB drew $298,000 from its surplus to finalize its 2024-25 budget of $207,869,377.

“We’re not seeing the same pressures that ADSB is experiencing at the moment,” Pino told reporters Friday.

The H-SCDSB spends $5.1 million on transportation and is receiving approximately $9,000 in transitional funding for busing.

“There are a lot of discussions happening at the Ministry level with respect to transportation funding and we continue to monitor that but we’re not seeing the same impact as ADSB,” Pino said.