Thames Valley school board trustees have approved a budget of $1.1 billion – $1 million more than last year – as they deal with staff replacement costs and special education demands.
The majority of the the board’s spending goes to salary and benefits, said board chair Lori-Ann Pizzolatto, adding those costs have increased significantly during the pandemic.
“Staff replacement is a pressure point due to sick time or short-term leave,” Pizzolatto said. “It has been a trend for a long time and the last two years (of the pandemic) didn’t help either.”
Another pressure point, she said, has been in the special education department, with the board spending more than $3 million beyond what the education ministry allotted, helping to create a $4 million deficit. “We’re allowed to go over one per cent of our budget for one-time items, but they can’t be for ongoing costs,” Pizzolatto said.
Those one-time expenses included a student information system, musical instruments, an occupational health and safety study, as well as four more special education positions and $100,000 in laptops.
“I think we did really well with the money we had,” she said. “It also showed that we were responsive to public input. We made sure what we heard, we were funding.”
The budget reflects additional staff hired due to “a significant increase in enrollment” of about 3,000 students, largely due to migration from other regions of Ontario and to schoolkids returning to the classroom after COVID-19.
Other budget highlights include $11.2 million in COVID-19-related learning recovery and $3.5 million for tutoring supports. As well, two new equity positions are being created that include an Indigenous education teacher on special assignment and a system principal for equity.
Pizzolatto hopes the education ministry may “look at funding that is flexible” in the future.
“All boards are different, so if the funding was a bit more flexible, we could utilize the funding for the needs of Thames Valley,” she said. “Not all boards have the same needs, concerns or issues or pressure points.”