A 4 - The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday June 26, 2002 Catholic board gets extension on budget deadline Public school By Howard Mozel O AKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The H alton C atholic D istrict School Board plans to m eet July 2 in a further bid to balance its 2002-03 oper ating budget after receiving an extension from the province to ham m er out its finances. T he B oard has until July 31 to subm it a balanced Bronte traffic study unveiled Less than a year after the Bronte Radial Bridge opened the Town is taking a close look at its impact. A public inform ation m eeting regarding the bridge's im pact on the area is being held on Thursday, July 4. The m eeting will be held in the A trium o f the 1225 Trafalgar Rd. Town hall. T here's a drop-in from 7-7:30 p.m.; and then a 7:30 p.m. presentation and questions and answers. The Tow n is looking at how the bridge, that connects Rebecca Street over Bronte Creek, is operating, but ju st as importantly, how it has affected m ajor roads in the area. Roads being reviewed include Rebecca Street, Lakeshore Road, Mississaga Street and Bronte Road. The Town is also look ing at potential mitigation measures where they may be required. The inform ation centre is to review prelim inary study inform ation and gather public input. For inform ation call the Tow n at 905-845-6601. budget, but in the m eantim e it must m ake $3.5-m illion worth o f cuts to do so. As a result, trustees will meet next Tuesday so that they can review reductions proposed by senior staff. If a b alan ced budget is achieved that evening, it will be forw arded to the province. If not, a second meeting will be called prior to the deadline to finish the job. (Ordinarily the Board does not m eet during the sum m er break except in special circum stances.) O n Ju n e 4, the last tim e trustees discussed the budget at length. S uperin ten d en t of Business Services and Treasurer Joe B irett explained that the Board w as still approxim ately $3.9 m illion short o f balancing next y ea r's proposed operating bu d g et, w hich then stood at $ 148.8-million. A s a result, Birett said that the Board may have to consider staffing reductions in all depart ments and support services plus "severe containm ent o f all salary increases" for 2002-03. A lso on the table are reduc tions in program s such as D A RE and staff training initiatives, plus ch an g in g half-d ay /ev ery day K indergarten to full day/alter nate day delivery. Service level reductions are sim ilarly being contem plated for student tran sp o rtatio n (a $712,000 shortfall is estim ated) and grounds maintenance. B oard particip atio n in the cost o f com m issionaires services may also be elim inated. Even with the additional cuts, the 2002-03 budget w ould mark an $8.9-m illion increase over last year, or 6.6 per cent. In his prepared report, Birett said the financial challenges fac ing the Board are the result o f several factors, including a gov ernm ent funding form ula which "does not adequately m eet the needs o f students" plus the costs associated with the opening o f four new schools. (St. Joan o f Arc, St. Elizabeth Seton, Holy Trinity, Christ the King.) A lso having a "significant affect" are low er class sizes, cost pressures for special education (a $1-m illion shortfall) and transportation plus utility and benefits expenses w hich Birett m aintains the funding form ula does not adequately cover. T he B o ard 's $ 3 5 .2-m illion capital budget is balanced, said Birett. brass will get salary hike (Continued from page A1) Abducted woman's car still missing (Continued from page 1) M a r it im e s A u g u s t 10, 2 3 , S e p te m b e r ? , 14 15 d a y s $ 1 9 9 5 DeNure Tours 1-800-668-6859 Reg. # 's #500009376 and 500009377 r r u j o 'Q --------------- M iddle Road in Burlington, where his picture was taken, and a second ATM at Dorval Drive and North Service Road, ju st around the co m er from the victim 's house. Shortly before 10 a.m ., the man returned the w om an back to her hom e w here he left her, still bound, and drove o ff in her car. T he w om an, w ho w asn't physically injured in the incident, m anaged to alert neighbours and police were called. A s o f press tim e, the w om an's car, a 1994, two- door, green Toyota Camry, licence A A A H 428, was still missing. 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Ask for details. Major appliances online at www.sears.ca Information in the Halton board's draft budget for 2002-03 show s that five o f its superintendents. G erry Cullen, C arla Kisko, Keith Johnson, Brenda Kearney and A1 G reyson, are getting ju st 0.7 per cent salary increases next year. Superintendent G ary Sadler is get ting a 6 per cent boost w hile fellow superintendent Barry Finlay will get a 4.3 per cent hike. H um an Resources supervisor Daw n Beckett-M orton is in line for a 10.5 per cent raise. All o f the superintendents will make betw een $ 113,262 and $ 115,177 for the next school year. K isko said S adler, F inlay an d B eck ett-M o rto n 's raises are higher because they get an annualized raise and m ove up one place on a salary grid. All superintendents then will be at the top o f the three-year grid, Kisko noted. Som e trustees and board staff have been loudly com plaining about a lack o f funds for public education, particularly o ver the last year. Papke said he doesn't understand the m edia's interest in his contract. "M y salary is the average salary o f the other four public boards in the GTA, but it's a year behind. "I d id n 't use leverage (but) there w ere other options available," he said. "T hey (Halton) m ade an offer and I accepted it. They said they w anted to be fair. If an em ployer cam e to you and said, `Is this fair?', w hat w ould you do? I think it's fair." G ardiner believes P apke's contract is appropriate and that keeping him is ben eficial and cost-effective for the board. "There are only a handful o f experi enced directors. He gets called regularly by boards much larger than Halton," she said. Gardiner noted that during the direc tor's performance review last year, con ducted by a committee o f trustees, she was contacted by an executive search compa ny. "He was being actively encouraged to consider a position with another board." She added that a search for a new director w ould probably cost the Halton board at least $50,000. G ard in er co n firm ed P apke nev er tried to use any potential jo b offers as leverage in his negotiations. "T he director's salary is arrived at by looking at the average salary o f the (public board) directors in the GTA (York, Peel. Durham and Toronto), m ost o f w hom have one o r tw o associate directors. His salary is actually last y ear's (GTA) average," she said. "W e're not leaders (in setting pay scales). These salaries are w hat is being d em an d ed ," said G ardiner, w ho acknow ledged she w asn't aw are o f the percentage increases in Papke's contract. "There is an associate director (in Peel) m aking m ore than our director." However, figures obtained from the director's executive assistant with the Peel District School Board show that its tw o associate directors have current base salary ranges o f $127,500-$ 144,000. The m uch larger Peel public board serves M ississauga, B ram pton and Caledon and has a 2002-03 budget o f $819 million. H alton's proposed budget for '02-03 is $285.5 million. Peel's outgoing eight-year director, Harold Brathwaite. had a final salary of $162,717; his successor, Jim Grieve, a long-time director for the Ottawa-Carleton board, will get a base salary o f $185,000. The neighbouring Dufferin-Peel Catholic board, which had a budget of $567 million for 2001-02, pays its long time director Michael Bator $151,530. Two associate directors get $ 128,138 each. T he H am ilton-W entw orth D istrict School Board, with a current-year budget o f $364.7 million, paid its director, Marv Matier, $136,538 in base salary this year, the board has no associate directors. A t the H alton C atholic D istrict School Board, Papke's counterpart, firstyear director Lou Piovesan, is on a threeyear grid that starts at $134,025 and tops out at $142,580. The Catholic board, w hich has a $ 148.8-million proposed budget for 2002-03, has not yet approved any em ployee salary increases, said business superintendent Joe Birett. O akville trustee Kelly A m os thinks any controversy about the director's pay is unfounded. "I w asn't on the director's perform ance approval (com m ittee) but I under stand why his salary is w hat it is. H e's not at the top (in pay) but in the m iddle." A sked if a less generous contract for Papke w as appropriate, on principle, considering fiscal constraints on m ost O ntario school boards in recent years, A m os said, "That might be som ething that com es into the future, but not right now. We have to be com petitive." Our Sherway Sears Furniture & Appliances Store is now open! Located across the street from Sherway Gardens S E W IN G M A C H IN E S T O R E REPAIRS T O S IN G E R tin t! a l l o th e r m akes O ' m odels Sears Oakville Place Mon.-Fri. 10am-9pm. Sat. 8am -6pm . Sun.11 am-5 pm. 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