The Board of Trustees with the Greater Essex County District School Board has been given an update on the 2024-25 Budget.
During the board meeting on Tuesday evening, trustees were a slight update to the upcoming budget.
Shelley Armstrong, the Superintendent of Business and Treasurer with the GECDSB, gave the update and stated that the 2023-24 projected deficit remains unchanged at $8.9-million.
The 2024-25 preliminary funding shows a $4-million increase compared to last year after the Ministry of Education released a new outline for the Education Funding at the end of April 2024.
However, Armstrong stated that these increases are not nearly enough to cover the costs needed for the school year. The increases see only $1.6-million in Classroom Staffing, $1.3-million more in Special Education Funding, and $595,000 more for Student Transportation.
A key challenge for the board as they try to finish their budget submission is the unknown amount of money needed to adjust the salary and benefits for employees after Bill 124 was repealed in February.
She says school boards have been asked to estimate the salary benchmark impacts.
"The Ministry does not plan on updating salary benchmarks for the full impact until August of 2024. This has created, I can't even begin to tell you, this has created substantial, substantial work for the Finance Department."
Armstrong says the cost of student transportation has risen significantly as the cost of fuel continues to increase.
"Increase in Student Transportation Funding does not meet rising costs. Bus operator contracts do expire at the end of the 2024-25 school year, so there will be some challenges, and difficult conversations as we work to come up with new agreements."
Armstrong says the increase to special education is not for the actual programs.
"Primarily attributable to updates in benchmarks, the board's program delivery is not contemplated in the funding formula by the Ministry. And in 2023-24, the board had a deficit approximating $10-million in this funding area."
The budget has to be balanced by 2025-26, but if the board continues to operate at their current expenditure levels Armstrong says the surplus will be gone within three years.
The draft budget is expected to be presented to trustees for approval on June 18.
The budget submission is due no later than June 28, 2024.