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Catholic School Board briefs
$128,000 for teacher
Candace Thomson
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, July 3, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Trustees of the Yellowknife Catholic school board unanimously approved an increase of $128,000 last month to its budget for the upcoming school year to hire a new kindergarten teacher at St. Joseph School.
This brings total expenditures for 2013/2014 to $25.7 million with a deficit of $863,000. The decision to hire a new teacher comes in response to increased kindergarten enrolment at the school, said superintendent Claudia Parker at a board meeting June 19.
There are currently two French kindergarten classes with 25 students each, and an English kindergarten class with 26 students. The board made the decision to split the class of 26 in half, meaning an extra English kindergarten class and the need for a new teacher.
"There's a magic number in kindergarten of 25 students per class, and once we go past that, we need to hire a new teacher," said Parker.
The budget increase comes a month after Yellowknife Catholic Schools and Yk Education District No. 1 attempted to jointly increase the mill rate on the school levy charged to property owners by 0.23 mills - equivalent to an increase of about $47 a year for households with an assessed value of $200,000.
Catholic school board chair Simon Taylor previously said the district may have to start making cuts in a couple years if the tax increase doesn't go through but it failed to materialize this year because Yk1 didn't have time to consult with district parents.
Parker said she expects at least five more kindergarten students to enrol for the 2013/2014 school year but couldn't predict with absolute certainty.
Increase to current budget
The upcoming school year budget wasn't the only increase at last month's Catholic school board meeting.
Trustees approved a $29,000 increase to the current 2012/2013 budget of $26.1 million after learning of an increase in funding and donations.
More than $20,000 of the funding came from the territorial government to support school programs such as the Species at Risk camp, the Take a Kid Trapping project, Drop the Pop and activities for the Hot Cuisine Club.
Mike Huvenaars, assistant superintendent of finance, said applications for funding are prepared by teachers manning the various programs and projects.
Those teachers write proposals and present them to the board and to GNWT officials in order to secure the funding.
Canadian Parents for French donated $600 as well, and there was a $500 donation from a former superintendent whom the board did not name. The budget adjustments were unanimously approved by the trustees.
Do Edaezhe success threatened by funding cessation
Out of the 101 students who graduated from St. Patrick High School this year, more than 30 of them have been involved in the Catholic school district's Do Edaezhe program.
Enrolment in the program is increasing, said Diane Lafferty, aboriginal education co-ordinator, who made a presentation with the program's curriculum writer, Moe Miller, at a school board meeting on June 19. There are 383 students currently enrolled.
Along with enrolment increasing, the program also has fewer students dropping out.
Only six students dropped out this year while 16 dropped out the year before.
"We're decreasing the number of dropouts we have, and that's significant," said Lafferty. "Kids are at risk of dropping out and these are the kids we want to keep."
Part of the reason fewer students are dropping out is because they are feeling more confident in the program and connected to their mentors, according to a survey Lafferty said program administrators gave the students.
The program is entering its fifth and final year of $7.2 million in funding from the federal government's Crime Prevention Action Fund. Superintendent Claudia Parker said the goal for next year is to work on how to sustain the program once the funding runs out.
"We know that we will not be able to sustain it at the level it is right now," said Parker. "It's a program we need to continue to have in our district to make positive changes for these students."
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