Committee of the Whole, Budget: February 18, 2025
The Committee of the Whole, Budget meeting for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board took place on February 18, 2025. Staff brought forward one discussion item.
Staff brought forward an oral update with no materials provided in advance on the academic staffing process and budgetary process for this budgetary cycle.
Academic staffing represents 60% to 65% of the budget and includes all school based and central elementary and secondary teaching, staff, principals, and vice-principals. Classroom teaching positions are tied directly to student enrolment and classroom requirements. Discretionary positions include English as a Second Language, special education, and central instructional coaches. We can expect the next report on the Academic Staffing to come to the Committee of the Whole Budget on March 18.
The budget process for this year will mirror budget cycles in previous years with no major changes in processes. In May, we expect to receive an update on the grants from the Ministry which will allow us to have the full picture of the budget for 2025 to 2026.
During the discussion, I asked the following questions to staff (timestamp 1:45:04):
Question: With a $20 million deficit, the impression that I continue to hear is that this is why the Elementary Program Review has been commenced to address the deficit.
Answer: We are running two major initiatives in unison. We face budgetary pressures every school year, even if complete this review. One is not the driver of the other. The program review has been initiated to standardize our program offerings.
Question: We keep describing a $20 million deficit and the prescribed amounts we are bound to through academic staffing. Is there a number we can provide for how much wiggle room we have in the unprescribed amounts?
Answer: Complex question and there are no simple answers. The prescribed amounts cannot necessarily be moved to other buckets of funding.
Comments: I can appreciate it is complex but what is hard to understand is if we need to find savings, where is that going to come from if this is caught up in prescribed amounts? I do not want to look at the ways we address inequities in our system to be one of the ways we look at bridging the gap.
Question: If we are not the only school board that is facing this funding issue, what are our colleagues in other school boards doing to address this?
Answer: Approximately 53 out of 73 boards are in deficit this year but they have accumulated surplus to address this gap. They will be in our situation shortly, but they are looking at the same areas as us.
Question: Are we the only board that do not have accumulated surpluses?
Answer: We are not the only board without an accumulated surplus.
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.
