$238.2 M budget passed by CDSBEO trustees

KEMPTVILLE – Trustees at the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario approved their 2025-26 budget with an overall spending plan of $238.3 million.

The budget, which was approved June 17, sees a modest net projected increased enrolment of 89 students, or about a one per cent increase. Of those, a net two-thirds projected increase is in secondary school enrolment. The board estimates that it will have 13,788 students in the school year.

Included in the budget is $15.7 million in capital projects. Overall funding from the Ministry of Education is up by 2.7 per cent while captial project funding – which the board already has a generous reserve of – increased by 12.5 per cent.

Despite an increased projected enrolment, the board estimates it will have a net reduction in staff by 10 full-time equivalent positions including 5.5 teachers. Staff spending increased by 2.7 for 2025-26, with salary increases in teachers, administration, and transportation making up the balance of those gains.

Superintendent of Business and Treasurer Ashley Hutchinson told trustees that staff replacement continues to be a challenge. The board is budgeting an additional $500K to fund temporary positions such as supply teachers to help deal with staffing challenges.

Transportation funding is another longer-term concern for the board. The CDSBEO is posting a $1.5 million surplus in transportation for 2025-26. The board will receive $22.7 million from the ministry for the school year, while costs from Student Transportation of Eastern Ontario are budgeted to be $21.2 million. By 2027-28, provincial funding reductions will put transportation into a $3.5 million deficit.

For compliance reasons, the CDSBEO’s budget will show a nearly $600K deficit for the year as it tries to draw down its accumulated surplus of $15.4 million. School boards in Ontario are allowed to post three consecutive years of compliance deficits, which this is the second deficit year for the board. Provincial regulations allow for a compliance surplus or deficit of one per cent of the overall budget for a board each year.