The public and Catholic school boards serving the region have both passed balanced budgets.
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Earlier this week, the Lambton Kent District School Board trustees approved a $369.36 million budget for the 2024-25 school year.
St. Clair Catholic District School Board trustees approved a $141 million budget for 2024-25 school year earlier this week.
Both school boards serve students in the Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton region.
“One of the LKDSB’s strategic priorities is sustainable stewardship (to) optimize human, financial and physical resources,” said LKDSB director John Howitt in a news release.
“This requires us to regularly assess and prioritize our budgeting processes to ensure that we are supporting all of the other strategic priorities, including student achievement and wellbeing, inclusive diversity, and trusting relationships,” he said.
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“We are very pleased to see a balanced budget,” said LKDSB board chair Randy Campbell, in the release. “And we know the incredible amount of time, effort and work that it took from the LKDSB staff team to get to this point.”
The public board serves more than 21,500 students in 62 elementary and secondary schools across the Sarnia-Lambton and Chatham-Kent communities.
The Catholic board’s balanced budget underscores its unwavering commitment to providing high-quality programs and essential support for all students, stated a media release.
“Our focus on student achievement remains steadfast, guided by the board’s strategic and student achievement plans,” said director of education Scott Johnson.
The Catholic board said it will continue to prioritize such initiatives as mental health support, student engagement, curriculum enhancements, literacy and numeracy, student success and technology access.
Catholic board associate director and treasurer Amy Janssens said the budget “empowers the board to sustain vital programs that directly enhance student learning and wellbeing.”
The Catholic board’s budget will be submitted to the Ministry of Education for final review.
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