Parent Council and school administration work very hard to fund programming and resources equitably across all grade levels and divisions at Runnymede.  The issue of how many students/ grade levels a proposed budget item benefits weighs heavily in all budget discussions.

For more information about specific division funding please see the individual pages:

• Kindergarten
• Primary
• Junior
• Senior

Typically, each teacher receives approximately $300-$500 to boost their classroom budget (CLICK TO HEAR FROM OUR TEACHERS!). Sometimes teachers in a division will pool their money to buy a larger item that is needed.  Others use theirs for Scientist in the School programs, classroom libraries, classroom pets, special classroom supplies, etc.  Classroom budgets must also cover essential supplies such as paper, Kleenex and pencils, erasers, glue, scissors, etc.  The allocation from Parent Council increases classroom budgets by about 30%

Typically 75% goes to enhance the School’s annual budget.  Each year the list changes a bit but items include: library books, math manipulatives, classroom libraries, supplies and special programs, classroom pets, school wide assemblies, supply teachers for competitions, computers, ipads, smart boards, robotics equipment, stationary bikes, recess equipment, quiet recess supplies, art supplies, instrument renewal, music stands, new desks or chairs, and the list goes on…

25% of the funds go toward council committee initiatives run by the Arts, STEM and Yard Committees. These enrichment programs include: Kinder, Primary and Junior visual arts programming, Angry Birds Math for Kindergarten and the Amazing Math Race for Grades 1-4, along with Green Teacher programming for Kindergarten, grades 2, 4, and 6.  The Yard committee also maintains and pays for the entire Hillside Garden including the kindergarten yard portion.  These Committees also work with the teachers and staff to provide additional resources for Arts, Math, Science & Technology initiatives, and outdoor recess and education across all grade levels.

The budget is presented, adjusted and approved at the October Parent Council meeting; all are welcome to join in the budget discussion.

Together, Administration and Parent Council will need to decide where to make cuts to the Council budget.  Unfortunately cuts will mean fewer resources in classrooms and across all grade levels.

The Provincial government is responsible for funding education, but they allocate money to school boards using an outdated funding formula that calculates per-student expenditures rather than looking at actual school needs.  Parent Council would love to see the provincial education budget increased so that schools do not need to fundraise!  Please speak with your MPP if you feel this way too.  For now, fundraising is how Parent Council helps our school to provide needed resources for our children’s education.

This is Parent Council’s one-time ask; we run several other fun community events each year where we sell refreshments, but they are all completely optional. The School will ask for money for field trips, agendas, and sometimes there are fees if your child participates in a sports team, however this simply pays for the trip, event or item itself, it is not considered fundraising for the school.

We respect that every family has a different situation when it comes to their budget.  We hope you’ll consider making a contribution no matter what dollar amount you are able to give.

The media has repeatedly positioned schools as “have” and ‘have not” for some time, however this just doesn’t ring true.  All schools have needs that are not being met by the current funding formula.  Runnymede administration is allocated $150,000 annually to run the school (down over $100,000 from a few years ago).  For the last 20 years Parent Council has been fundraising approximately $60,000-$80,000 per year to enhance school resources and programming.  The Runnymede you know today is a direct result of continual parent fundraising to boost the school’s budget.  Without these funds some school programs simply wouldn’t exist.

The overall average raised by TDSB schools is $150 per student per year.  This includes extra TDSB funding allocated to schools in low-income areas.  Most of the public schools in our Ward 7 area fundraise this amount annually.  The top fundraising TDSB schools raise an average of $500 per student per year.  The lowest fundraising TDSB schools raise an average of $30 per student per year.  Runnymede typically averages $80 per student per year.

Runnymede has hosted a Fun Run in past years (prior to Covid) to raise money for Ogden School, and we would love to host a similar event this year, and would love volunteers to help to organize this!  If you would like to write a cheque to another school, you can always find their contact information on the TDSB website.