Thanks to a recent funding announcement by the Ministry of Education, Sudbury Catholic District School Board students will start the new 2005 school year off with new library and text books. Mr. Rick Bartolucci, MPP for the City of Sudbury delivered the good news to representatives of the four Sudbury area school boards at press conference held at St. Francis Catholic School on Thursday morning. “To provide every student with the learning environment they need to succeed, Ontario’s publicly funded schools are taking deliver of new text books, library books and other learning resources in time for the start of a the new school year,” stated Bartolucci. Providing learning and library resources, teaching resources and professional development and professional development opportunities is a key component of the McGuinty government’s commitment to improving literacy and numeracy achievement among students. “The government’s goal is that 75 per cent of 12-year-olds meet the provincial standard in reading, writing and math by 2008. This new allocation of dollars will go along way toward achieving that goal,” concluded Bartolucci.

The McGuinty government is entering its second full year of an $8.3 billion four-year investment in Ontario’s publicly funded schools. Part of this investment, announced in May 2005, includes an additional $61 million for new textbooks, other learning resources (such as magazines, computer software and multi-media resources, including CD-ROMs and DVDs) and library resources. Every school — regardless of its size or geographic location — will benefit from the investment. The total funding for all 4 boards amounted to $1,159,635 with the breakdown as follows;

• Sudbury Catholic District School Board will receive $236,473
• Conseil scolaire du District du Grand Nord de l’Ontario will receive $ 119,739
• Conseil scolaire du District catholique du Nouvel-Ontario will receive $285,712
• Rainbow District School Board will receive $ 517,711

Hugh Lee, Superintendent of Business and Finance for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board was on hand for the morning presentation. “It is with great pleasure that we welcome the infusion of new money into our system at this time,” stated Lee. “The expert panel reports indicate that a well-stocked library contributes greatly to the development of students’ literacy skills. New money for textbooks will go a long way to ensure that the quality of Catholic Education will be maintained.”