Over the past few months, the HPE school board has been transparent on financial pressures caused by inflation, transportation funding, the removal of temporary funding (tied to COVID), and the reduction in teacher funding. In other words, the provincial government is starving our education system. They have pulled funding from Early Years and combined it with Education and told you it’s new money. There is no new money. What does this mean for education in our community? The board has said that this year’s budget has forced them to ignore local priorities. They had to cut funding, for Special Education programming and supports, and for 5 Educational Assistants (EAs), who work directly with high need students. It’s rumoured that two of these EAs will come from county schools, which will leave them with zero EAs. Unacceptable. How can you help?  1) Email the HPEDSB trustees and let them know how the removal of EAs will impact your child/grandchild. Demonstrate how EAs have supported your child/grandchild, in and out of school. Ask them to reject this budget and come back with one that doesn’t eliminate these vital roles. 2) Email MPP Todd Smith. Schedule a meeting with him and ask why he continues to prioritize the move to private education over an equitable public education system. Show him how underfunding education has impacted your family.

At the end of the day, this falls to the Provincial Government who’s not-so-secret mandate for the Education System is to squeeze the life out of it, and move towards privatization, which will create a larger class gap than we  already face in our community.  Our previously world-class public education system is under attack. We need to let Doug Ford, Stephen Lecce, and Todd Smith know that the youth of PEC deserve better. That we demand better.

Alison Kelly

Cherry Valley