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BGCDSB History
A little history about Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board:
Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board’s story started back in 1969 when Premier John Robarts, his Minister of Education, William Davis and the Progressive Conservative (PC) government introduced legislation which created 126 newly formed County and District Public and Catholic school boards from the current 3,500 school boards in the province. It was then that the Owen Sound Separate School Board would become the Bruce-Grey County Roman Catholic Separate School Board (BGRCSS) offering publicly funded Catholic education from kindergarten to grade 10 through the collection of taxes and grants. This newly formed board would enrol 2,491 students and employ 107 staff members, all while working with a $1M budget. For the next 29 years the provincial government would guarantee a minimum level of funding and school boards would establish a mill rate for residential, commercial and industrial property taxation. In 1984 Premier William Davis announced that his government would introduce legislation to complete the separate school system to grade thirteen.
After 143 years of sacrifice and struggle by advocates of Catholic Schools, the separate school system in Ontario was recognized as a complete and fully funded school system. In 1997 Roman Catholic Separate School Boards were once again reduced from 53 to 29 Catholic District School Boards across Ontario. This is when the Board's name changed to the Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board (BGCDSB). In addition with the passing of Bill 160 (Education Quality Improvement Act, 1997) the education funding model would be radically changed and a newly formed Grants for Student Needs (GSN) would be released to support the premise of an equity based approach in hopes of equalizing student outcomes across the province.
Throughout the past 50+ years (1969-present), BGCDSB and education as we know it has continued to evolve. Committed to a vibrant Catholic education, in 2022-23 the board will educate over 4,700 students both in-person and remotely, as well as employ 606 permanent employees. With an operating budget of $73.6M, and capital budget of $6.2M the board continues to "Let Your Light Shine!" by living out its mission and vision. That is, by "ensuring quality learning experiences through community partnerships that nurture each student in mind, body and spirit and embracing the teachings of Christ, giving witness to Gospel values. "
(Reference from ‘Let Your Light Shine A History of the Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board and Its Predecessor Roman Catholic Separate School Boards’ by Robert T. Dixon)