New school names, field trips, staff meals: School trustees grind for savings

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The cash-strapped Thames Valley District school board may pause the school renaming process to save some money as it faces a $7.6-million budget shortfall.

The region’s largest school board had been facing an $18.5-million deficit, though it was reduced by more than half through proposed job cuts and other measures. Renaming schools, part of a social-justice push, costs upwards of $40,000 each.

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“We’re trying to . . . to find savings,” trustee Leroy Osbourne told colleagues at a Tuesday night meeting reviewing the board’s proposed budget. “I’m not looking to stop the process. We still have an obligation to public society to finding a means and ends to the wrongs of the past.”

It was late 2022 when trustees approved a plan to move toward renaming 12 schools amid a sweeping review of public institutions associated with residential schools and racial injustice. Several have already been renamed.

The motion to press pause on the process amid the budget crunch will go before trustees on June 25, when they’re expected to examine several other potential savings.

Board staff have recommended cutting 124 jobs to reduce its projected budget deficit to $7.6 million from $18 million forecast in February. Fifty-eight elementary and 24 high school teaching jobs would be eliminated in the board’s preliminary $1.2-billion budget for the 2024-25 school year, staff say.

The board also recommended reducing its special education budget by almost $1 million and slicing in half $1 million earmarked for school field trips.

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Other categories targeted for reductions include school budgets, printing and photocopying, textbooks and learning materials, as well as $2 million in cuts to instructional supplies.

Trustees also called for cuts to funding for professional development for the board’s director and supervisory officers, as well as its trustees as they struggle through budget talks.

Trustees will also be asked next week for final approval of a motion to eliminate $70,000 in the “staff development line” for the board’s director and supervisory officers and $77,000 in professional development for trustees.

Other items suggested to help balance their bottom line include the elimination of food for trustee or internal staff meetings that are less than four hours for the 2024-2025 school year.

The series of motions was introduced by trustee Lori-Ann Pizzolato, who said she was “trying to find money so it can go back to the classroom” and help students.

“These motions are to start a conversation between trustees and I’m happy to hear from staff,” she said.

The board’s deficit is being blamed on unfunded employment insurance and Canada Pension Plan expenses due to rate changes between 2024 and 2025, as well as a rise in mental health leaves and other factors such as special education expenses.

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Queen’s Park allows school boards to run a one per cent budget deficit. Because the Thames Valley shortfall is larger than that, a so-called deficit recovery plan must be submitted with next year’s proposed budget for it to get provincial approval.

Thames Valley must also have a balanced budget by 2026-27 and a surplus of about $20 million – two per cent of the board’s operating costs – by 2027-28, staff note.

Thames Valley staff is also asking Queen’s Park to approve the transfer of up to $12.5 million from the sale of properties to its budget surplus.

hrivers@postmedia.com

@HeatheratLFP

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