Catholic School Board pointing the finger at provincial government
Posted May 13, 2010 10:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Calgary Catholic School Board is facing a huge deficit and says the province is to blame.
Staring at a $15 million shortfall, the board will eliminate 85 full time teaching positions.
Even with the job cutbacks, the board will run a $5 million deficit.
The board blames the province for its first budget shortfall in 125 years.
The chair of the Catholic School Board, Marg Belcourt tells CTV the loss of teachers and the increase in class sizes will affect the quality of education students receive.
The board says it will lose $6 million due to the province’s new funding model and the government has pulled out of covering teacher salary increases which means another $9.3 million shortfall.
Education officials say there’s no extra money for school boards.
The board would like to see the province dip into its reserves and help support public education.
The province’s education minister says funding discussions are ongoing, but these are challenging times.
