A balanced budget has been passed at the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.
The total budget came in at $304.6-million plus $1.1-million in provincial funding to cover additional COVID-19 costs.
Board Chair Fulvio Valentinis, says more COVID-19 funding is expected to come in as the Ministry of Education continues to finalize its plan to get students back in the classroom.
But Valentinis says there are still many unanswered questions.
"There's a tremendous amount of uncertainty which is reflective of the challenges that we're dealing with, but so much of this is governed by the ministry and those plans, those directives have not been finalized and will continue to be ongoing," he says.
Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board chair Fulvio Valentinis seen on January 28, 2020 (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
Valentinis says he realizes many parents are frustrated with the current situation.
"It's a real understatement to say that we're living in very, very challenging times. In some ways, there's a tremendous amount of uncertainty, we've got a moving target and there's so many unknowns and this is what some of the parents are feeling in terms of frustration," he says.
Valentinis says staff are doing their best to get the latest information to parents.
"I know it's frustrating as we get these questions and as we forward them. Administration is trying to, as much as possible, accumulate those answers and get them on our website to try and give as much information as we can, but the challenges are there," he adds.
Despite the pandemic, the Catholic board is projecting an enrolment increase this school year of 125 students resulting in just under $1.2-million in extra funding.
On the flip-side, due to COVID-19 restrictions, international student enrolment has been cut in half leading to a revenue loss of about $855,000.