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*# Petals & POLS inc. Flower & Gift Shop Gary Milier M en Ee d e P e cce e eR E 1 the #1st dey t byvf particip vehicie, lessee wi making 47 u-r-w deaker for heate M:w‘zmuaflh;nh:‘.l.m1hauhmfi.hm . Lhm:'-lfifie-w Aisk about our Kitchener: 725 Ottawa St. S. _ Watertoo: 65 University Ave. E. MAZDA PROTEGES ITCHENER LOCATION OPEN Artificial Arrangements & Picture Frames After Christmas Sale 1/2 PRICE 2002 Corguide Best Buy for Compact Utility ALL 7001 for a limited time only.. Available on all 2001 and 2002 Mazda models. Hurry this Holiday Event ends December 31st! GRADUATES GET AN ADDITIONAL $750 OFF PURCHASE OR LEASE. Payment for 90 days Interest for 90 days Down payment â€" 'I"â€"'""'I t "'_‘â€"â€"rl Best New Economy Cor Financial future bleak for local separate school board he financial news for I 2002 is already bleak for the local Catholic school board as it faces an estimated $8 million deficit heading into next year. And â€" unless â€" planned meetings with local memâ€" By Bos VrBanac Chronicle Staff bers of provincial parliaâ€" ment and the Ministry of Education in January result in changes in how the board is funded, board officials will have to meet with parents, school councils and local educators about ways to cut that debt. "We‘re saying after the first quarter we have a probâ€" Payment for 90 days Down payment Security deposit MAZDA TRIBUTE â€"fi‘-finnmn“‘-fichwwth r*:&-hdfl\qdfi of trensection. Seoke m 681 is a \rodemact of Contumers Bigest, lnc., uted under kcorse 90 days. You dester will make you first month‘s papment. On ts wiks tot mt oo pasl i ts o ponaotes Trwe mag lem," said the Catholic board‘s director of education Roger Lawler : after | last week‘s school board meetâ€" ing. "The cuts we made last June were too deep." in order to address that shortfall, and to provide the level of education | that Lawler thinks students and parents expect, the board MAZDA MPY will have to go into deficit It‘s a deficit brought on by the fact that the board will only receive $153 million in funding from the province this year, even though proâ€" jected spending.is expected to top $160.9 million. Provincial _ legislation makes it illegal for any school boards to run a deficit of more than one per cent. If they do, they have to make immediate plans to repay that debt or face a provincial takeover. "If we end up the year in a negative position, then we have to develop 2 budget recovery plan that has to go over the next two years," said Lawler. "That could be the other reality we are in." Board _ officials _ and trustees are looking to the province for some direction in handling the board debt because they think most of it is due to the tight funding constraints and the proceâ€" dural straightâ€"jacket the province has put them in when providing programâ€" ming. "We‘ve just watched the cuts go deeper and deeper, and our worst fears are being realized now," said board chair Dianne Moser, who represents Waterlooâ€" Wilmot on the board. "It‘s not that we haven‘t been watching our financial staâ€" tus... these are unexpected costs because we thought we were getting government funding for them. "When we receive direcâ€" tives from the ministry to implement certain strateâ€" gies and takes steps and make â€" commitments . to them, then we find out the funding isn‘t forthcoming â€" that‘s where the surprise comes." For instance, the Ministry of Education passed legislaâ€" tion requiring school boards to reach threeâ€"year deals with their respective barâ€" gaining units Yet, the provincial funding model is structured so that board planners only know what funding they‘re getting on a yearâ€"toâ€"year basis. "If we don‘t get the proâ€" gram support and we don‘t get the additional revenue to support the directions they are giving us, that‘s where we come into a shortfall," said Moser. Local trustees, as well as boards around the province, are looking for multiâ€"year funding that takes matters like inflation into account, said viceâ€"chair Louise Ervin, who is also president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association, and the â€" Canadian _ Catholic School Trustees Association. "We‘ve presented our conâ€" cerns on a number of occaâ€" sions," said Ervin. That multiâ€"year funding will allow boards across the province to better plan over Continued on page 7