Manitouwadge High School Students To Lose Teachers – Parents Seeking Support Tuesday May 22nd

Written by Reader Submission on 18 May 2012

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AUDIO CLIP from another concerned parent “MaryL.” OntarioNewsNorth.com spoke with Tuesday, May 22^nd, 2012: CLICK HERE

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DEAR Editor, please share with OntarioNewsNorth.com readers (May17^th, 2012 Author has requested anonymity).

Fellow parents and community members, Manitouwadge High School had just over 100 students for the school year 2011-2012 and 12.84 teachers. Ministry of Education funding states that Manitouwadge High School generates funding for the Superior Greenstone District School Board for a staff of 14 teachers.

Next year, despite similar enrolment compared to 2011-2012, the school is slated to lose 3.33 teachers, which will leave it with 9.5 teachers in total.

If this proposal passes at the Board meeting on May 22^nd, Manitouwadge High School will be understaffed by 4.5 teachers compared to the Ministry funding formula. And, our students will lose the equivalent of 20 course options compared to the current year.

With a significant reduction in the teaching staff at the school, programs and options for the students of Manitouwadge will be impacted. The Board’s policy is that “Kids Come First” and our community needs to ensure that this motto is more than just words. Let’s put kids first and see that our tax dollars are spent in the classroom.

We as a community and parents need to stand up and show that we want quality education for our children.

We need to take action now.

If you can, come out on Tuesday, May 22^nd to attend the Board meeting through videoconference at the High School. We can have our voices heard by the Board.

Let’s ensure that our Kids Do Come First.

Below you can see an explanation of funding grants that go to our school board to pay for 14 teachers for our high school.

Ontario Ministry of Education Funding Formula

Supported Schools Allocation

The Supported Schools Allocation provides additional funding for teaching staff to keep viable low-enrolment schools that are far from other schools of the board. The Supported Schools Allocation is projected to be $59 million in 2012–13.

In conjunction with the definition of a school used in the School Foundation Grant, a

supported school is also:

● a secondary school deemed to be“supported”if the next closest secondary school of the board is at least 45 kilometres away.

Supported schools are referred to as “outlying schools” in the Grants for Student Needs – Legislative Grants for the 2012-2013 School Board Fiscal Year regulation.

Funding is provided so that:

Supported secondary schools with 50 or more students generate funding for a minimum of 14 teachers.

Supported schools also generate top-up funding through the School Operations and

School Renewal Allocations of the School Facility Operations and Renewal Grant when enrolment is less than the capacity of a school (see pages 95 and 103.)