Ontario's funding formula fails to recognize the unique needs of northern school boards, which cover immense geographic areas, have many small schools, and enroll a high proportion of Aboriginal students. This report examines school size, enrollment, and staffing in northern Ontario schools, drawing on 2002-03 tracking reports of provincial schools. Northern Ontario elementary schools averaged 221 students, compared to 373 in the rest of the province, while northern secondary schools averaged 481 students, compared to 1,007 elsewhere in the province. Since 2000, 43 northern schools have closed, all of them small schools. Under funding formula requirements, fewer than one quarter of northern schools had sufficient students to qualify for a full-time principal or a full-time teacher-librarian. Only 54 percent of secondary schools qualified for a full-time guidance counselor. Northern schools often lacked specialist teachers and special education personnel. Also unrecognized by the funding formula were the need to pay higher salaries to attract teachers to northern areas; the huge geographic areas covered by French-language school boards, which serve 17 percent of the northern population; the special needs of Aboriginal students; and the high cost of student transportation. Recommendations are offered for revising the funding formula. (SV)