Cuts to schools grants announced by the provincial government late Friday will have an effect on local students, says a spokesperson for the Upper Grand District School Board.
A Ministry of Education memo was emailed to the board at about 5 p.m. on Friday, said Heather Loney, communications and community engagement officer for the Upper Grand District School Board.
“We know it’s going to be a reduction, so we know we are not going to be able to do all of the things we had planned,” said Loney of the memo.
Loney said board staff have been working over the weekend to sort out which Education Program Other (EPO) grants are being affected by the cuts. Some are being replaced with new ones, some grants are being reduced, while others are being cut altogether, she said.
“We have to keep looking through and see how this is going to impact us locally, but it is a reduction or an elimination of funding, so this will have an impact on the work we had planned for our students,” said Loney.
One of the grants facing a reduction includes training for staff in applied suicide intervention skills training and violent threat risk assessment protocol, said Loney.
Also facing reductions are grants for other areas of the Safe Schools initiative dealing with inclusion and equity.
A grant for experiential learning will not be renewed once it expires at the end of this school year, the board has learned.
Loney said the board was informed that grants for tutors in the classroom and Innovation Learning will not be continuing, effective immediately.
“Those are two different grants that are just being stopped,” said Loney.
Board staff are still going through all the changes and are Loney said they are hoping more details are forthcoming from the ministry.
“We will continue to review the impact locally and then await new details from the ministry in terms of new agreements that will be sent to us,” said Loney. “We will have to work through the timelines of the deliverables for each program and wind-down the programs, as required.”
In a statement emailed to GuelphToday on Monday, a spokesperson for Wellington Catholic District School Board confirmed 'several' EPO grants are being reduced or eliminated.
“We are in the process of completing a full analysis of the impact and the required in-year adjustments to the budget. We continue to be committed to the success of our students within the context of good fiscal management.”