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Phillip Blancher
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
CORNWALL – Rural schools in SDG Counties are receiving specific provincial funding, and the Rural Education Committee wants to know what that funding is and how it is used. Members of the Rural Education Committee, an SDG Counties council committee formed in 2022, discussed the provincial Rural and Northern Education Allocation at their May 27 quarterly meeting.
RNEA funding from the provincial Ministry of Education was established in 2017 to support rural and northern schools with a funding top-up. That top-up is in recognition of some of the challenges schools in those communities face including increased transportation costs, or higher operating costs. Funds received must be publicly disclosed of how they are used.
Of the $24-million in RNEA funding in 2024-25, the Upper Canada District School Board is the largest single recipient, receiving $1.72 million. The Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario received approximately $800,000, third-highest in the province.
Committee member Stephanie Jaworski, who is also a councillor on South Glengarry Township council, laid out her challenge in determining where funding was being spent by the local school boards.
“School boards are supposed to post what the funds are used for,” she told the committee. “Right now, only the CDSBEO has done so.”
Jaworski said that the list of RNEA funded schools should be placed on a protected list whenever the Ministry of Education lifts its eight year moratorium on school closures.
“If we want to continue to advocate for this, or to use the RNEA school list as a list of schools that should be protected, it woul dbe good for us to know how funding is being used in the region,” she said.
Committee Chair Jeff Manley asked if Jaworski had made any headway in getting the information, to which she replied “not at this time.”
Committee member Jennifer MacIsaac, who is also a councillor on South Stormont council, said having that information creates opportunities for not only sharing information, but to advocate for rural schools when attending provincial conferences, or even joint partnerships with school boards at specific schools.
“This is significant dollars coming to the region, families should know what those are,” she said.
Jaworski told the committee that she was to meet with the UCDSB on a specific school issue about RNEA funding, but recommended the committee make a formal request for information from the boards. Manley agreed and asked for that to be prepared.
According to the Ministry of Education, the RNEA is a school facilities fund meant to improve education in those communities. In the 2025-26 school year, the UCDSB is projected to receive $1.8 million, while the CDSBEO will receive approximately $900,000. Funding numbers for the French-Catholic and French-Public boards were not provided by the ministry.
School boards are required to submit by June 30, 2025 what the allocation will be used for, and the list of all schools approved by the trustee boards, that will receive the funds.
Ministry officials also explained that boards must publicly post details of those expenses and what schools will use the funding.
April Scott-Clarke with the UCDSB told The Leader that 73 of the 78 schools in that board received RNEA funding in 2024-25.
“Of those funds, $1.4 million pays for 10 full-time teachers that are shared among the 73 schools. The remainder of the funding goes toward the supporting our digital learning team and research department,” she said.
According to the 2023-24 report on the CDSBEO, funding was divided between 18 elementary schools at $28,102 each, and six secondary schools at $56,207 each, supporting general school operations. The 2024-25 funding report for the CDSBEO has not yet been published.
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