TDSB trustees approve 2022-23 operating budget; includes $40.4 million deficit

A Toronto District School Board logo is seen on a sign in front of a high school in Toronto, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustees have approved a $3.4-billion operating budget, which includes a projected deficit of $40.4 million primarily due to pandemic-related costs.

Approved by the board Wednesday evening, the 2022-23 operating budget prioritizes mental health supports, student safety and resources to tackle hate and racism.

The budget includes hiring more full-time social workers, child and youth workers, school-based safety monitors, early reaching coaches and ESL teachers.

Millions will also be allocated to support Indigenous education, the Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement and the TDSB’s Human Rights Action Plan.

“Despite a challenging budget year, we are making strategic investments to continue to support our students in specific areas such as mental health/well-being, early literacy, English as a Second Language, student safety, resources to combat hate and racism, and technology. These supports will be important to meet the needs of our students arising from the pandemic and as they enter the new school year,” Colleen Russell-Rawlins, TDSB director of education, said in a statement.

The budget, however, includes a projected deficit of $40.4 million, or 1.4 per cent of operating allocation, mostly due to “unfunded pandemic costs, ongoing ministry funding shortfalls in a number of areas, and declining enrolment.”

In response, the board has created a three-year deficit recovery plan, which is not required per regulation but “demonstrates that the board’s long-term financial position is not at risk.”

The board notes that there are a “small number of staff reductions” included in the budget “to better align staffing with the number of students,” due to declining enrollment and the elimination of one-time ministry funding.

The reductions include the elimination of 18 full-time staff members in Year 1, and 50 to 70 full-time staff reductions in each of the next two years.

The union representing thousands of TDSB education workers says the board plans to lay off more than the number it listed in its budget report. Internal documents provided to CP24 by Toronto Education Workers/CUPE Local 4400 suggest that more than 300 TDSB workers are being laid off for the upcoming school year. They include lunchroom supervisors, special needs assistants, educational assistants and designated early childhood educators. It is unclear what is the reason for the discrepancy.

 

The TDSB says this will generate roughly $1.7 million in savings in Year 1 and $6.5 million in savings in each of the next two years.

“While every effort has been made to ensure that the deficit reduction measures have a limited impact on programs and services for students, it is clear that the TDSB would be in a much more stable financial position if we had adequate Ministry funding and if we were not facing funding shortfalls in a number of areas. Despite these significant challenges, we are committed to allocating resources to meet the needs of our students and the TDSB community,” TDSB Chair Alexander Brown said in a statement.

Since March 2020, the board says it has incurred over $69 million in board-funded pandemic costs, which have not been reimbursed by the Ministry of Education. Many Ontario school boards were only able to furnish pandemic-related costs themselves after the Ford government allowed them to spend reserve funds to the tune of up to $500 million combined.

In addition, the TDSB says there were $64 million in other revenue reductions due to the pandemic, in areas such as international students, permits, leases, continuing education and cafeteria sales.

The TDSB says it will use its reserves to balance the operating budget for the 2022-23 school year.