26 March 2012.
Dear Premier McGuinty:
I appreciate the efforts being made by your government to examine the finances of this province, and your readiness to make the difficult decisions necessary to rein in Ontario’s debt.
It is my opinion based on experience that certain changes to education spending could save millions of dollars without a negative impact on education.
The Ministry of Education has offered school boards the opportunity of new funding for the construction of new schools to accommodate students from consolidated and/or closed schools. The intent of the policy was good but it is in my opinion, being abused by school boards across the province. Unfortunately, the Education Act gives school boards the power to close a school with no appeal on the decision, and no process to appeal the decision to an independent third-party. Consequently, schools across Ontario in rural communities and small communities are being closed and students shipped to new schools outside of their home communities. Many of these closings are being disputed but to no avail. Reports from across Ontario confirm that no amount of common sense, verified data and studies or appeals have changed the decisions to close schools.
Disputed school closures and consolidations will have several negative financial impacts on the provincial debt, including:
1) New construction costs more than repairs to existing building: School boards are misrepresenting the estimated long-term ReCAPP costs of repair and maintenance of existing schools. These schools can be repaired for far less than is being reported to the Ministry and at much less than the cost of building a new facility.
2) Increased busing takes money from education: The majority of the cost of shipping students comes from the Ministry of Education budget, not the school board budgets. That is, money that should be spend on education is being spent on transportation instead. For consideration, the cost of teachers driving to several smaller community schools is far less than the cost of shipping all the students in a commuity.
3) Wasted money on EQAO: In many communities, even elementary students will spend 1 to 2 hours each day being shipped to and from school. Studies show these conditions result in lower academic achievements, thus wasting the time, money and resources being spent on improving EQAO scores.
4) Increased future health costs: The physical health of students who are shipped out of their communities versus those that walk and bike to school and have time to participate in after school sports will decline requiring an increase in future health care expenditures.
I respectfully suggest that when developing the new budget, consideration be given to a moratorium on the building of new schools and busing of students out of their communities when that closure and/or consolidation is disputed by the community. I believe this would save millions of dollars without compromising the level of education delivery in Ontario.
Yours truly,
Bernadette Secco
Hon. Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario dmcguinty.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Hon. Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance dduncan.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Hon. Laurel C. Broten, Minister of Education lbroten.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Hon. Deborah Matthews, Minister of Health dmatthews.mpp@liberal.ola.org