Ottawa public school board proposes staff cuts to help address 2023-24 budget deficit

Ottawa's largest school board is looking to cut 21 discretionary staff positions for the 2023-24 school year, as it deals with a projected multi-million dollar budget deficit.

Ottawa's largest school board is looking to cut 21 discretionary staff positions for the 2023-24 school year, as it deals with a projected multi-million dollar budget deficit.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board will finalize the academic staffing plan for the new school year on Monday night, the first step of the annual budget process.

The board is facing a projected $15 million to $20 million budget deficit for the 2023-24 school year due to a rise in operating costs, the discontinuation of COVID-19 funding from the Ontario government and increasing costs for replacing absent teachers.

In a report for Monday's meeting, staff recommend a reduction of 21.23 discretionary academic staff positions for 2023-24, saving an estimated $2.33 million.

"Recognizing that the number of positions is small relative to the number of academic staffing positions, it is expected that this savings target can be achieved through attrition," staff say.

The recommended cuts include 8 instructional coaches in elementary schools, 6 instructional coaches in secondary schools, two elementary special education learning support consultants, 3.57 FTE positions for primary special needs classes and 5.83 FTE positions for learning support teachers in secondary special education.

The proposed budget for academic staffing in elementary and secondary schools is $528 million next school year, which provides for 4,938.67 full-time equivalent positions. Staff say there will be 151 new FTE positions in elementary schools and 39 more FTE positions in secondary schools for 2023-24 than the 2022-23 school year.