Good report for district

KEMPTVILLE | Towards the end of the year, trustees with the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario enjoyed reading a positive report about the past budget plan.

During their Nov. 19 board session, trustees reviewed a financial report on the 20132014 fiscal year of operations from a representative with the KPMG auditing firm. The overall financial statement summary was positive.

“These results reflect the dedication and accountability of all staff,” stated William J. Gartland, CDSBEO education director, “and our focus on making resources matter, in particular for the success of the student in the classroom. We continue to remain focused on providing the best quality Catholic education possible for students in Eastern Ontario.”

The financial report noted that the school district met all of the provincial government’s demands for balanced budgeting by school districts while at the same time meeting special education needs in the district and also maintaining provincial demands for smaller teacher-to-student classroom size ratios that would allow teach- ers to provide more one-on-one attention when needed with individual students. In the CDSBEO during the past fiscal year all primary classes, from junior Kindergarten to grade 3 had an average of 23 students and in about 90 per cent of cases the student class size was 20 or less.

Board trustees reviewed a later revised report during their Dec. 16 session. The report includes updates to all projected sources of grants and other supporting revenue, changes in expenses since the original 2014 budget was approved in June this year, and projected enrolment figures for the spring 2015 term.

The revised report indicates the CDSBEO may have a small surplus of $380,000 for the 2014-2015 fiscal period.