Frozen budgets make tense situation worse: chair

With the Ontario government announcing in the April 23 budget it's holding the line on funding for school boards, the chair of the Rainbow District School Board said she's taking a wait-and-see approach.

A similar zero-per-cent funding increase for hospitals recently compelled Health Sciences North to cut $5.2 million to balance its books.

“The devil is in the details,” said Doreen Dewar. “Until we have a clear indication of what the funding is, we really can't plan a budget. But we will be considering the details when we look at our budget, and that will be in June.”

As the province tries to avoid any new spending on education, it's in the middle of negotiations with teachers' unions.

The Rainbow board is also negotiating with unions at a local level, but all monetary discussions are at a provincial level.

Given the budget's direction, there's “every possibility” of difficult provincial negotiations, as “monetary issues are at the heart” of the talks, Dewar said.

Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation members are set to hit the picket lines in Sudbury on Monday if they don't get a deal with Rainbow this weekend on local issues such as grievance procedures and job postings.

The budget also contains plans to save $58.6 million in 2015-2016 by consolidating schools, sharing space between school boards and opening up underutilized school space to community groups.

Dewar said the board already closed a number of schools over the past few years, and she feels Rainbow's space utilization is in line with its enrolment.

“We're currently pretty frugal with our spaces,” she added.

She said she's in favour of some of the other budget announcements affecting school boards, including using underutilized schools for child care.

There's also news in the Ontario budget affecting post-secondary students and graduates.

Changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) include amnesty for the almost 200,000 former students who have fallen behind on their loans. Payments will also be indexed to inflation and it will be easier for students with cars to get financial aid.

But in a press release, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) said while the government claims these changes are about providing more choices, students believe they will only increase access to debt without addressing the up-front costs of post-secondary education.

The budget contains no new funding to address the “affordability crisis” at post-secondary institutions, said the CFS.

“For years, students have been sounding the alarm that Ontario's system of post-secondary education is unaffordable and inaccessible,” said Alastair Woods, chairperson of CFS Ontario."We have proposed thoughtful and practical solutions to address high tuition fees and increasing student debt levels, yet the government responds with empty rhetoric and recycled promises.”