School boards in northwestern Ontario are learning how much money they will receive from the provincial government for the next school year.
Allocations totalling $29 billion are being issued provincewide.
The province says this includes:
- $34 million to support the hiring of 300 school math facilitators,
- $13.5 million to fund school board math leads with a singular mandate to improve math skills,
- $68.68 million for education staff to provide reading supports, including the hiring of over 600 more specialized educators,
- $12.5 million for reading intervention support licences and $12.5 million for reading screening tools,
- $10 million in new funding for school security infrastructure, including vape detectors,
- $2.9 billion as part of the School Facilities Fund for operating, maintaining, renovating, and renewing school buildings
There is also an additional $80 million for student transportation.
Special Education funding increases to $3.5 billion, which includes $11.5 million for school boards to hire more staff to reduce wait times for speech and language supports.
“We are also delivering a more transparent funding model while continuing to increase investment in publicly funded schools to the highest levels ever recorded so that all students can graduate into good-paying careers,” says Stephen Lecce, Education Minister, in a statement.
School boards in northwestern Ontario are seeing a bit of an increase.
The funding allocations are based on projected student enrollments for the coming year.
