'This hit us out of left field': Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board to cut over 100 staff positions
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board will cut over 100 staff positions for the new school year, including numerous secretarial staff, the school board told CP24 on Tuesday.
In a statement to CP24, board spokesperson Bruce E. Campbell said that secretarial positions are tied to school enrolment, which has been declining year-over-year. According to Campbell, the school board is anticipating another enrollment decline of approximately 1.3 per cent next school year, which has made staffing cuts unavoidable.
Campbell also cited the provincial government’s elimination of COVID-19 Learning Recovery Funding as a contributing factor to staffing cuts, which will span across several unions and associations. Cuts will be made based on seniority, according to Campbell.
CUPE2026 is the union which represents the clerical, secretarial and technical employees of DPCDSB. In a statement to CP24, union president Lisa Maye called the events which led to these cuts a “double whammy” due to the decline in enrollment and reduced funding from the province.
“There’s bumping, and there will be layoffs,” she said, adding that some staff members may stay employed by DPCDSB in lower-level jobs or at different schools.
“It’s dependent on their seniority,” she said.
“We just found out this information recently,” she continued. “There’s not much we can do. We’ve negotiated the language around ‘bumping,’ which allows members to have some sort of job protection. But this hit us kind of out of left field.”
Reduced funding from the province may result in cut jobs and programming at schools across Ontario, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) warned in March.
“We need adequate, stable and predictable ministry funding to provide the necessary programs and services for our students’ academic success and well-being so that they may emerge from the pandemic ready for whatever comes their way,” officials wrote.
In a statement to CP24, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education said the Peel-Dufferin Catholic District School Board received a bump in funding compared to last year, adding that average base per-pupil funding for PDCDSB students has increased by 10.2 per cent, "despute a major drop in enrolment of nearly 8,000 students."
"We will continue to increase investments where students need it the most, focused on reading and math skills," continues the statement.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.