The Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board has approved a $180-million operating budget for the 2024-25 school year, an increase of 5.1 per cent from the previous year.
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The budget includes an increase of $10.3 million over 2023-24 for staff salaries and benefits, which accounts for almost 80 per cent of the total operating expenditures.
The board will be hiring 18 new teachers to accommodate increasing student enrollment for the upcoming school year.
Also approved by the board is a capital budget of $31.6 million for various school renewal projects and the ongoing construction of two new schools, St. Patre Pio Catholic Secondary School in Brantford and Pope Francis Catholic Elementary School in Caledonia.
“As we enter Year 2 of our 2023-27 Strategic Plan, we remain committed to ensuring its goals and priorities are supported by this new balanced budget,” said board chair Rick Petrella. “Student learning, faith formation, well-being and safety, and mental health remain priorities that our trustees consider essential in creating an engaging teaching and learning environment.
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“Our board has a long history of fiscal responsibility and therefore can meet our strategic goals while maintaining a balanced budget, and this year that trend continues. This is also reflected in the fact that our two capital builds — St. Padre Pio Catholic Secondary School and Pope Francis Catholic Elementary School — remain on schedule.”
In 2021-22, the Ministry of Education approved funding for the two new schools. The $51-million St. Padre Pio, under construction on Powerline Line, is scheduled to open in 2026. Pope Francis school, with a construction budget of $9 million, is set to open in 2025.
Student enrollment is the main driver of the board’s funding. Enrollment is expected to continue increasing for the foreseeable future, said a report from board staff.
“Once again, the board has experienced tremendous growth in our student enrollment and is extremely excited to welcome over 475 additional students to our Catholic elementary and secondary schools,” said Petrella. “This represents an approximate 3.9 per cent increase in enrollment from the prior year with the board seeing an incredible overall 19.89 per cent increase from 2020-21.”
The board has more than 12,000 students at 28 elementary and four secondary schools.
The budget also includes $1.1 million for school renewal and $2.5 million for school condition improvement.
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