Budget Pressures

Ontario school boards are limited in their authority to generate revenue outside of the provincial grants, making them almost completely dependent on provincial funding. If the province reduces funding, school boardshave to reduce their expenditures. We know that the Ontario economy has suffered as a result of the recent economic crisis. Ontario faces an annual deficit of approximately $16 billion for the current year, with deficits continuing until 2017. The government has introduced a multi-year plan to eliminate the annual deficit by 2017- 2018. We will not be certain what the actual dollar impact of that plan is on our budget until the grant announcements are made. If our funding is maintained at the same level or even increased by 1%, this will not be sufficient to cover our expected increased operating costs.

 Full-Day Kindergarten – The full-day kindergarten program has been extremely well-received by parents in the first two years, and it is anticipated that the year 3 expansion will continue to see strong enrolment. The program expansion cost is supposed to be fully funded; however, like any program expansion, there are sometimes additional interim expenditures/investments required.

 Collective Bargaining - Collective agreements for all employee groups will expire on August 31, 2012, both locally and provincially. The province takes a lead role in negotiations and it will be critical that any costs associated with new agreements be fully funded by the province.

 Health and Safety – The health and safety of students and staff is an on-going priority at the school district. As we continue to make improvements in our working and learning environments in response to legislated requirements, we require both short-term and longerterminvestments in operating and capital costs.

 Impact on our students of service reductions by other agencies - The OCDSB has begun to see the impact on students and families as a result of reduced service levels from other community agencies, and the ongoing impact of unemployment. With the current emphasis on deficit reduction by all levels of government, it is likely we will continue to see such reductions in service. This will have an impact on our most vulnerable students and their families which impacts the entire school community. This is particularly relevant as we try to continue our focus on student achievement and well-being.

 Inflationary cost pressures on such things as utility rates, supply and maintenance costs, as well as pension costs, unemployment insurance and Canada Pension Plan rates. This kind of pressure is expected to average 2 to 3% across these expenditures.