An issue not much discussed at recent “save our school” meetings, at least in open forum,  is the school funding formula. Although little understood it seems, this flawed formula could be the crux of the present dilemma. The reality is our Valley schools are under funded and everyone and their dog has been ducking the responsibility of taking on the monetary burden.

The funding issue was discussed [briefly] at a Town Council meeting last year [sorry - we couldn't find the reference in the minutes] but our recollection was that the Town of Wolfville pays an amount per student [said,  in one reference, to be $1,250 per student] but there had been a request for municipalities to negotiate a change the formula to base funding at least partly on assessments. If the Town agreed to this our education charges  would increase. This article gives some ideas of what the impact might be.

The current funding agreement is based on student numbers. However, all other areas in the province base municipal education contributions on uniform assessment. The county has expressed an interest to switch to an agreement based on uniform assessment, citing a concern that the current agreement is impacting negatively its ability to provide needed services to ratepayers.

Switching to the provincial formula would have saved the county over $1 million this fiscal year and Berwick would have saved $38,342. However, Hantsport would have paid an additional $120,893, Kentville would have paid an additional $324,947 and Wolfville an additional $608,234. [/source]

There is another problem also – a skew in funding supplements which are not kind to Valley schools with falling enrollments. These policies have been questioned by a number of municipalities.

The town [of Bridgetown] also questioned the Department of Education’s funding formula which is perceived as unfair to AVRSB schools because they don’t qualify under two components of the formula – enrollment supplement and class size supplement. In effect, said the town, Valley schools are forced to use core funding to sustain schools with declining enrollment. [source 1="April" 2="9," 3="2009" language="Spectator"]

This is explained more fully in this article which quotes Bridgetown mayor Art Marshall, a former school principal.

Provincial and municipal funding to school boards in Nova Scotia is distributed by formula. To a large extent, the formula generates revenues for school boards in various categories driven by student enrolments. The core funding components of the formula provide money for programs, special education, support services, property services, transportation, board governance and administration, school administration, and textbooks. These core components allocate most of the available dollars and appear to be consistently applied to all boards in relation to their respective enrolments. However, two of the eight school boards in Nova Scotia, the AVRSB and the Halifax Regional School Board, do not qualify for funding from two components of the formula, the Enrolment Supplement and a Class Size Supplement, valued together at more than 20 million dollars. [emph ours]

The Enrolment Supplement is provided to offset the effects of enrolment decline in a school board that exceeds an average of two per cent per year over a five-year running average. This provision does not recognize the extreme disparity in school enrolment within a school board such as AVRSB where the Annapolis County schools enrolment is declining at more than twice (4.2 per cent) the eligible rate for supplementary funding. In effect, the AVRSB is denied supplementary funding and is expected to use money from the core funding components to sustain schools with declining enrolments when other boards in Nova Scotia with declining enrolments are not.

The Class Size Supplement provides an additional $10.6 million to school boards who have average class sizes below the provincial average. AVRSB does not qualify for this funding. When the baseline was established for Class Size Supplementary funding, the Annapolis Valley and Halifax Regional School boards had the highest average class sizes in Nova Scotia. For AVRSB, efforts to maximize the benefit of education dollars in the past have created an uneven playing field in relation to current eligibility for additional funding from this pool money.

A third pool of money, a type of top up fund to help school boards bridge year-to-year budget shortfalls, amounts to more than $53 million annually. Although these dollars are not included in the formula funding, they are allocated proportionally according to the formula. This extra funding further increases or compounds money for boards who qualify for the two categories of supplementary funding. [emph ours]

A fair share of Enrolment and Class Size supplementary funding alone would provide several million additional dollars to the AVRSB annual budget. This amount of money would have a significant impact on the board’s ability to maintain schools with declining enrolments for years to come. If the Province of Nova Scotia is truly committed to achieving its sustainable prosperity goals for all Nova Scotians, it will re-examine the mechanisms by which resources are distributed and ensure that all parts of the province are able to participate fully. [Source - Spectator March 4, '09]

Our school advisory committee members would be well briefed on both these funding problems, one would suppose, and could perhaps shed further light on the details of our situation in Wolfville.

Another question to be asked is – Should any School Board funding come from municipal coffers at all or should all Boards be fully funded from general provincial revenue?

Apparently our home town U has had a low flu rate.

Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., has so far emerged relatively unscathed from the second wave of swine flu. Spokeswoman Sherri Turner attributes the university’s run of good luck in part to beefed-up hygiene protocols and an extensive effort to get information out to the student body.

“In high-touch areas, there’s extra cleaning happening. We also have almost 300 hand sanitizers in buildings throughout campus. We’ve kind of done a lot of things in terms of education to prevent the spread of the illness.”

Those educational efforts included the launch of an informational website where parents and students can go to obtain credible information about the virus, Turner said. Acadia’s efforts have been a success so far, she said, adding that no classes have been cancelled yet. [/source]

Quite a few students in the line earlier today getting shot up [ along with half of Wolfville]. Some of them didn’t even wait the 15 minutes. Maybe they had a class.

We remind our readers of the meeting tomorrow night, 7:00 pm,  in the L.E. Shaw school gym.  We encourage you to go and give your opinions on the options offered by the School Board. [That is if you don't feel too bad after getting your flu shot at the Acadia gym the same afternoon.]

As you see we are experimenting with new looks at Ww. Please bear with us as we try a few things on.

Oh yeah – feel free to comment.

This video is better than ours so … we don’t mind. Good work zackeke.

Later: Another great pic H/T OpenAcadia

Related : Middleton

And also related

Jane Purves on CBC radio this morning with Ralph Surette discussing tax increases:

“There’s one problem. There aren’t enough rich people.”

The meeting last night at Wolfville school was well attended except, surprisingly, by the pawns in the game – the children. Few were visible and only one spoke all evening. [This was odd indeed since children have been easily mobilised as poster children, for anti-idling campaigns for example]. We are left to wonder what the youngsters think. Perhaps the Gr. 6 – 8 crowd would be happy to get out of our problem prone facility and try the Pizza in another town?

Attendees were welcomed with “Save our Wolfville School” buttons , and an alarmingly coloured red folder containing information sheets. The mayor introduced a consultant [Did we hear right? from Ramp Up?] who MC’d the evening. After summarizing some of the information handed out, all were encouraged to join discussion groups on various topics with volunteer facilitators – Impact on the Town, Busing, Quality of Education and the like. Those who could stay after that were to gather together again to hear a summary of those discussions.

We drifted around and left before the fireworks. Quite emotional enough as it was. What we learned:

• The mayor thinks the $4. 5 Million promise “will be honoured” – but this “assurance” is not in writing and perhaps might be spent on other schools or if on our school to renovate for a P-5 facility.
• No one has reliable numbers on anything.
• There are two camps: those who think the 4 communities should be presenting a unified face to the Board= ” Consolidation is a flawed principle, don’t do this!!” and those who think we should go it alone = “Wolfville deserves the nod.” Mayor and Council appear to be in the second camp.
• If comments are to be believed, Acadia and Acadia students are much more involved in our school than we would have guessed.
• Insiders think Avonport will get the nod given previous School Board decisions favouring L. E. Shaw
• Political pressure will be put on “our” MLA Ramona Jennex and she will no doubt be reminded that this is an NDP town. In other words – a political decision will be required.

Sigh.

We hope to hear from some Hantsport, Avonport and Gaspereau parents, as well as those from Wolfville in the comments.

A letter in the CH this morning from a frequent commenter here. He gets it. How many others do?

Take on assessments

It is a common misconception that the municipal tax take should increase if property values rise.

Property assessments are supposed to be a tool for determining how the tax burden is to be distributed among property owners — not for determining the total tax take. Sadly, some sneaky municipalities have taken advantage of taxpayer inattention and rising property values to inflate their budgets in years gone by. The gargantuan pile of cash that they collect is inevitably wasted on squeaky wheels, gross inefficiencies and general foolishness.

Your average municipal politician/bureaucrat is delighted to take a cut from any net growth in the value of properties in your community. We shouldn’t let them get away with it.

Brian Sanderson, Wolfville

“… one possibility …  is that it’s all sort of nonsense to begin with.”

The quote is by a doctor in this New York Times article which says a lot about human nature and the irrationality of people in general. Most people seem to prefer wishful thinking. How can facts and science counter the emotional component?

I eat organic foods, I exercise. Through all of that comes a spiritual element as well. Mind, body, and spirit are all connected

The same thought pattern is apparent in other issues.

“You have to think that in boardrooms they are saying, Man, did we learn a lesson,”

There is a third issue of the Mud Creek News available at the Post Office – at least that’s where we got ours. Get them while they last!

We only have time to type out some of our paper copy so our readers will have to be satisfied with our choice of excerpts. We do feel the articles deserve a wide distribution and unfortunately they are not available on Voices of Wolfville [ "your information source" according to the cute little card which accompanies the MCN in the stand at the PO]

We will do our best to encapsulate. First item of note, in the “DO YOU KNOW” section:

The Town may donate a lot on Maple Ave. to Habitat for Humanity with the option for HFH to purchase additional lots under market value for $10K per lot.

Will each taxpayer get a tax receipt for this charitable donation we ask? As in the case of the Hospice we don’t think the municipality should set a precedence and give to charities. Where do you stop? Should the Baptist church get funding from the Town?

There follows a list of the upcoming Town meetings in Nov. which you can find on the Town website.  Included is the much publicised “Save Our School” meeting on the 17th (Wolfville school  7pm)  It is a shame most people paid no attention to the policies of the past few years which threatened our school population but it seems people can be mobilised only when it is too late, or – let us be optimistic for once- almost too late.

The first article is on Communication and Participation by Mr. Becker.

CAO Brideau used very questionable or dubious tactics in launching a “Communication Committee” and selecting its members without going through Council [emph ours]. He hired outside consultants to come up with a plan for Council on how to solve the long ongoing communication /transparency and participation problem and allocated $15,000 to an “operational project team”. Sections 24 to 26 of the Municipal Government Act (MGA) make it clear that only the Council may establish standing, special and advisory committees and its members.

Becker points out that in order to get around these annoying rules this administration just changes the terms – so this is not a committee but a project team! The same wordplay was used when a “meeting” was called a “workshop” to get around the MGA limitation on in camera meetings [see this post from the past. Someone should have a little talk with the town solicitor.]

Mr. Becker also objects quite rightly to the CAO and the mayor being on the committee. “Due to their past attitudes they would appear to have very negative qualifications.“

With the budget process starting up soon and since one councillor at least has warned that the Town is in a “difficult financial situation” there is bound to be a rocky communication road ahead.  Mr. Becker ends with this comment:

Maybe in the context of a dire financial situation the consultants could shed light on the Council’s very recent decisions to spend taxpayers’ money for nothing and/or almost nothing in return for Wolfville residents (Acadian University Swimming Pool $5K of $8.4K total, Acadia Raymond Field another $15K of $60K total, Central Ave Walking Project about $200K, Communication Committee $15K)

The next article is by Mr. Daniels on the payments to Acadia. Are we getting enough in return he asks.

The Town has agreed to give a second $15,000 to Acadia, one of 3 (or 4?) installments “promised” in the past [ Council shouldn't really make these commitments into future years but they do anyway.]Until 2013 Town Residents will be permitted to use the track and the field free of charge, when not in use by others. [Is this why they keep the lights on at great expense into the evening hours even though there isn't a soul on the track?] Also the Town will be able to make use of Raymond Field “for events the Town deems of mutual interest to its citizens and Acadia University.” [ We suggest a football game between staff administration - including the mayor and Council and the Acadia staff!] This does not seem very much in return for $60,000 – and it ends when our installments end!

Mr. Daniels also complains that the Recreation Committee recommendations were ignored in giving $5,000 for Acadia’s pool renovations. The Committee suggested Council attach conditions  – that the University also obtain funds from Kings Co., that Acadia have a local fund raising drive for the purpose and that Acadia provide Town residents with a certain number of discount day passes to the pool. Instead:

During the discussion at the Council table nothing was said about the Rec. Committee questioning the claimed economic benefits or that the Rec. Committee recommended conditions…. The silence was odd in view of the fact that three members of Council, including the Mayor, sit on the Rec. Committee and all three had voted in support of the Rec. Committee’s recommendation to fund the pool renovation, but with conditions.

Why did the Mayor and all Council members approve the funds without conditions?

Mr. Becker and Mr. Daniels still expect to be enlightened. We admire them. We stopped asking those kinds of questions of the Town a  few years back since we lost hope of getting any answers.