Ottawa’s largest school board, currently under provincial supervision, is facing a $5.4-million deficit this school year and a $20-million deficit next year, says the newly appointed director of education.
Stacey Kay was named director of eduction at the Ottawa-Carleton Distirict School Board following the
unexpected “departure” of Pino Buffone
, announced on Nov. 11. Randy Gerrior, the chief financial officer,
resigned earlier this fall.
In June, the board of trustees
passed a balanced budget
, after trustees approved $18.1 million in cuts to the $1.244-billion budget. Only days later, the province announced that the board was being
placed under supervision
, citing financial “mismanagement,” and suspended the duties of trustees to make budget decisions.
- Wednesday live chat: The OCDSB and other public boards have been put under direct provincial supervision, sidelining elected trustees. What does all this mean for students, parents and educators? The Ottawa Citizen and The London Free Press are teaming up to help make sense of what’s happening and what’s ahead, with reporters Joanne Laucius and Heather Rivers replying to your questions and comments Wednesday at noon live on our website. Sign up here to join in the discussion.
In addressing the audit committee on Monday, Kay said she has reviewed the financial statement, and the numbers show the board is facing “significant financial challenges.”
“However, the underlying problems do go deeper, and that we did receive special one-time funding that we do not anticipate in future years,” said Kay.
“If the additional funding had not been available, the operating deficit would have been closer to $20 million.”
Meanwhile, the cumulative deficit now stands at $12.1 million, and the board will have to start repaying the money, said Kay.
The audit reports outlined some areas of concern, including $7.1 million more than anticipated on staff replacement costs. The OCDSB also spent $12.8 million less on textbooks to save money.
”The concern I have is that we’re taking money out of the classroom,” said Bob Plamondon, the provincially-appointed supervisor.
“Teachers are in the classroom with less textbooks, materials and supplies, and so our most valuable resource, what we’re spending the most amount of money on, is now having to be constrained with the tools that they would use in the classroom.”
OCDSB enrolment has also increased less than anticipated, although no specific numbers were released. School boards are funded in part on a per-pupil basis according to projections given to the Ministry of Education in the spring. Actual enrolment figures are forwarded to the province in December.
Last year, enrolment at the OCDSB increased by over 200 students, but that was still 1,130 students
short of projections
. The Ottawa Catholic School Board has reported an increase of 1,657 students as of Oct. 31.
“We did have some reduced enrolment, and that does affect our grant funding, because a lot of our grant funding is based on how many students you have and it permeates the entire funding,” said interim chief financial officer Kevin Gardner.
He also outlined how much the board spent on its 12 elected trustees, who received an annual honorarium of about $16,000 before the OCDSB came under supervision. Earlier this month, Education Minister Paul Calandra said provincially-appointed
supervisors would be earning a maximum of $350,000 a year.
With other expenses such as cell phones, professional development and mileage while travelling, and other similar expenses, trustee costs come to $450,000, plus the costs of governance and support, for a total of about $1.3 million, said Gardner.
The board spent about $230,000 on investigations related to trustees in the past few years, said Gardener. In September, Calandra said the province has
spent more than $214,000 on “trustee feuds”
at the OCDSB.
Kay told the audit committee that previous budgets have included an “optimism bias,” illustrated by an over-estimation of revenues and an under-estimation of costs. That will have to be adjusted, she said. The OCDSB is conducting a “credibility analysis” of the budget for this school year, she told the audit committee.
Normally, financial shortfalls are addressed in the following year, but given the size of the cumulative deficit, it is likely that the problem will need to be addressed with a multi-year plan, said Kay.
“Throughout this process, there will be an absolute steadfast commitment to maximizing our investments in the classroom to enhance student achievement and well being and the engagement of staff,” Kay told the audit committee.
“This is a manageable problem, and there is a realistic and financially responsible path forward to which we are fully committed.”
Plamondon said the OCDSB will be among the first school boards to adopt an enterprise resource planning system, a software system that helps organizations streamline business processes.
“The financial review has also highlighted that we will need to change how we plan and track our spending,” said Kay.
Critics say the issue is not how to trim the budget, but chronic underfunding.
Elected trustee Donna Blackburn, who was chair of the audit committee before the school board was placed under supervision, said there was no financial mismanagement under the board of trustees. Normally, there are three trustees on the audit committee, and they are able to ask questions, she said.
The problems of the OCDSB are being faced by every publicly funded school board in the province, said Blackburn. The OCDSB has not received enough funding to cover the costs associated with the repeal of Bill 124, which capped public sector wages. Public sector workers across the province, including teachers, collected billions in back pay.
Kay, who has declined interviews so far, has not explained how shortfalls are a “manageable problem,” said Blackburn.
“No matter what software you buy, we are not funded enough,
particularly when it comes to special education
,” she said.
“The government claims they are increasing funding to education. However, if you don’t at least keep up with inflation, it’s in fact a cut to education.”
The OCDSB and other public boards have been put under direct provincial supervision, sidelining elected trustees. What does all this mean for students, parents and educators? T
he Ottawa Citizen and The London Free Press are teaming up to help make sense of what’s happening and what’s ahead, with reporters Joanne Laucius and Heather Rivers replying to your questions and comments Wednesday at noon live on our website. Sign up here to join in the discussion.
