Board Meeting and the Committee of the Whole, Budget: January 28, 2025
The Board meeting and the Committee of the Whole, Budget for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board took place on January 28, 2025. Staff brought forward 4 reports with 6 recommendations for discussion.
Coming out of the Committee Whole meeting, I voted in favour of the recommendations in Report 25-002, on the Comprehensive Report on the Elementary Program Review, Proposed Program Model and Support for Students. This report sought the approval of the Board of Trustees to initiate the next iteration of community consultation on the Proposed Program Model and Support for Students. In April 2024, the Board of Trustees approved the initiation of the elementary program review which allowed staff to examine the delivery model for all six programs, special education, English as a Second Language development and all other elementary offerings to determine if the elementary programming needed to change. You can read more about the initiation of the review in my blog from January 21, 2025 and from April 2, 2024. The recommendations were carried.
Coming out of the Policy Review Committee, I voted in favour of the recommendations in Report 24-120, Recission of Policy P.042.SCO, Guidelines for Dealing with Reports of Strangers Approaching Students. Staff recommended that the policy be rescinded on the basis that the content is no longer relevant as the program the policy provides guidance for no longer exists and the policy is no longer applicable as other policies and procedures have been introduced/revised since its inception that better address the goals of the policy. The recommendations were carried.
Coming out of the Policy Review Committee, I voted in favour of the recommendations in Report 24-130, Recission of Board Policy P.066.HR Performance Appraisal and Supervision for Professional Growth of Administrative and Support Staff, and P.089.HR Performance Appraisal and Supervision for Professional Growth of Teachers. Staff recommended that the policies be rescinded on the basis that the policy is no longer relevant due to the direction from the Ministry of Education on Teacher Performance Appraisal and Principal Performance Appraisal which renders the policy redundant. Additionally, administrative and support staff fall under Ottawa-Carleton District School Board’s policy on Performance Appraisal and Supervision for Administrative and Support Staff. The recommendations were favour.
Staff forward Report 25-006, 2024 to 2025 Revised Estimates for discussion during the Committee of the Whole, Budget. Staff explained the changes reflected in the District’s 2024 to 2025 revised estimates as compared to the District’s 2024 to 2025 estimates. The revised estimates help to inform future financial planning and decision-making. The key changes from the estimates include change in enrolment based on original projections, funding issues related to the change in projections, expense issues related to the change in projections, continued pressures relations to school maintenance, underfunding, and other pressures.
The revised estimates require staff to find at least $4.2 million in savings to arrive at a balanced budget. The loss in revenue can be attributed to a decrease in enrollment across the District and underfunding from the province in key areas including salaries, benefits, replacement worker cost, and replenishing the surpluses lost during the pandemic. During the discussion, I asked the following to staff (timestamp 41:45):
Question: Is there a threshold that staff will need to come to board for approval?
Answer: Yes, that will be considered operational. If there was an area of concern in relation to the strategic plan, the Director would engage the Chair, and it would be brought forward for discussion.
Comments: I can appreciate that staff are doing everything they can to bridge the funding gap. I have a fear that we are going to come a point where we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. I believe we need to have that discussion publicly to be transparent, especially with our budgets getting tighter and tighter.
Response: When we are looking at the funding from the Ministry it is very restrictive. There is not a lot of latitude on making the decisions. When the budgetary decisions are made, we need to follow these guidelines and get to a bottom line that is not achievable.
Question: There is a perception that we are conducting the Elementary Program Review in response to budgetary constraints. This week alone I have heard from many families that are scared for their students in the changes proposed to the Special Education classes. What comment can you provide to reassure families in relation to this?
Answer: In essence, is respect to the Elementary Program Review, it is not a cost-saving measure. The spirit of the Elementary Program Review is to better serve our students, staff, and school community. Staff are looking to reorganize our infrastructure to optimize our services and our programs to better serve our students.
Question: Is there going to be a point where we are not able to continue with the Elementary Program Review?
Answer: No.
Staff forward Report 25-007, 2025 to 2026 Budget Process for discussion during the Committee of the Whole, Budget. The first commitment in the annual budget process is the approval of the Academic Staffing plan for 2025 to 2026. The District is bound by collective bargaining agreements timelines which means that we need to commit over 60% of our budget before the Ministry releases the technical papers for the budget. This commitment is not unique to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. It is currently estimated by staff that the Ministry will release the technical papers for the budget in late April and there has still been no indication of additional funding to help bridge the underfunding gap. During the discussion, I asked the following to staff (timestamp 1:38:38):
Question: Is there a plan to put this budget and all accompanying documentation on Engage OCDSB?
Answer: Yes, we will continue using the engagement platform.
Question: Do you believe we are underfunded in public education?
Answer: Yes and no. There are areas and funding sources that we get adequate funding to do the work. For an example specialists high school majors. We can. Meet the vision through this funding. In contrast I do not see this across the programming.
Question: Do you believe building the budget is a complex project?
Answer: Yes and no. There are parts of the budgetary process that are formulaic. There is external factor like food security that cause us to make difficult decisions.
Comments: I think we have a unique opportunity here. Our budgets are getting tighter and tighter every year. The perception that I am hearing and in my experience in public engagement is that the budget is made behind a closed door, a magic wand is waved and then we have the proposed budget. We are going to need to be really transparent because it is a $4 million deficit and more coming in the following years. Building this budget and the cuts we are faced with is going to be difficult for this community.
There are a lot of public engagement tools that allow for a participatory budget process and allow the community to submit their feedback on how they would allocate the budget and what cuts they would make. If we continue to have cuts year-over-year and if we continue to not increase funding, the budget process is going to get more difficult, and the public is going to need to understand.
I will also say, I also really think we are going to have some hard conversations and decisions, and it should happen at the board table.
Finally, although I can appreciate the $200 that has arrived in my mailbox, I would love to give it to the OCDSB and if the provincial government would like to follow suit, please feel free.
Response: The Education Foundation of Ottawa is always most willing to accept donations. Staff would also like to be transparent and clear about what engagement we are looking for in the budget.
Please note, that the opinions expressed here are entirely my own and do not reflect an official position of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board or the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board of Trustees. Please note answers from staff are paraphrased, the recording can be found here if you would like to watch the entire meeting. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me using my contact form here.
Key links
Video for the Board meeting on January 28, 2025
Agenda for the Committee of the Whole meeting on January 28, 2025
Report 25-002, the Comprehensive Report on the Elementary Program Review, Proposed Program Model and Support for Students
Report 24-120, Recission of Policy P.042.SCO, Guidelines for Dealing with Reports of Strangers Approaching Students.
Report 24-130, Recission of Board Policy P.066.HR Performance Appraisal and Supervision for Professional Growth of Administrative and Support Staff, and P.089.HR Performance Appraisal and Supervision for Professional Growth of Teachers
Agenda for the Committee of the Whole, Budget meeting on January 28, 2025
Report 25-006, 2024-2025 Revised Estimates
Report 25-007, 2025 to 2026 Budget Process
