OCDSB to finalize $18.1M in budget cuts

Ottawa's largest school board is expected to balance its $1.244-billion operating budget for the next school year by making $18.1 million in cuts.
About $5 million in savings will come from special education, $6 million from administration and $4.2 million from teaching, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) staff said. Another $3 million will be found in other areas over the course of the coming school year, such as vacant positions.
At a special meeting Tuesday night, the board is expected to formalize a decision trustees made June 11 when they voted seven to two to support a series of staff recommendations aimed at avoiding a fifth deficit.
Among the financial pressures facing the board are rising costs due to inflation, paying supply teachers as staff use sick leave, extra costs stemming from Workplace Safety and Insurance Board decisions, and a requirement to keep all schools open due to a moratorium on closures.
Balancing the budget was "no small feat" and took months of work to find rational and reasonable reductions, chief financial officer Randy Gerrior told trustees last week. That's despite the Ministry of Education only publishing details of allocations to Ontario school boards on May 23, he said.
The OCDSB didn't receive any significant new money for the coming year because the funding formula is based largely on the number of pupils and the board's enrolment has flatlined. It expects 51,071 elementary students next school year, plus 26,149 high school students.
The OCDSB's budget has been created, debated and voted on as trustees and staff await the results of an investigation by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Education minister Paul Calandra assigned the company to scrutinize the OCDSB's finances because of its lack of reserves and repeated deficits.
"The ministry is currently reviewing the report's findings and is in the process of considering next steps," wrote Emma Testani, press secretary to the education minister.
135 fewer full-time positions
Next year, the OCDSB plans to spend $740.4 million, or 59.6 per cent of its operating budget, on instruction and $159.5 million, or 12.8 per cent, on instruction in special education.
It's still spending $10 million more on special education than it receives.
As for jobs, board expects to have 8,453 full-time positions next year, a reduction of 135 from what it had approved at budget time last year. It had already approved some job reductions in March to adhere to timelines in collective agreements.
Classroom and resource teachers would drop by 64 positions compared to last year, for a total of 4,950. The board also sees employing 31 fewer kindergarten early childhood educators. Such positions are tied to enrolment.
Gerrior's team recommended 20 fewer educational assistants compared to last year's budget, for a total of 853 staff to help students with special or complex needs.
The centralized department that supports special education will also shed various jobs including a social worker, three psychologists and a couple of speech language pathologists.
The summer learning program for students with developmental disabilities and autism would no longer be offered after this summer, despite an effort by trustee Lyra Evans to preserve it.
The board will receive more money for student transportation, with planned spending of $56.5 million next school year. The province has committed to bridging a price increase for monthly OC Transpo passes, Gerrior added.
Dealing with long-term issues
Chair Lynn Scott credited OCDSB staff for spending months scrutinizing the finances to find savings through "things that are nice to have, but not required to have." Beyond that, she called for continuing efforts to explain to the Ontario government the flaws in its funding formula and its detrimental effect on students.
As for the longer term, Gerrior said the board is dealing with its structural deficit by trying to make better use of its funds. The recent contentious reorganization of elementary schools will help, he said. The OCDSB anticipates presenting its next review — of its adult and continuing education programs — in the fall.
To rebuild its reserves, which it used up during the pandemic, the board intends to use revenue from selling off surplus buildings, he explained.
On June 11, after two nights of deliberations as committee of the whole, seven trustees voted in favour of the budget as staff had presented it: Lynn Scott, Julia Fortey, Donna Blackburn, Suzanne Nash, Jennifer Jennekens, Donna Dickson, and Matthew Lee. Trustees Lyra Evans and Cathryne Milburn opposed the budget.
Justine Bell abstained from voting and Amanda Presley was absent. Nili Kaplan-Myrth was also counted as absent because her pending resignation must be formally approved at a meeting June 23.

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