Could Ontario’s four-board school system run more efficiently?
That’s the question the Near North District School Board (NNDSB) asked during its last meeting, and trustees passed a motion entitled "Ontario School Board Efficiencies." Board members want the province to look at how to bring more resources to students, staff, and schools.
The motion calls on the Ministry of Education “To initiate a study/investigation […] of the viability/efficiencies of consolidating the existing four board’s system in a new way.”
Trustee Bill Steer brought forward the motion noting, “We are not saying how many boards there should be, we are asking the government for a comprehensive consultative study to look for opportunities that will not only identify cost savings but also create efficiencies.”
Steer, in an email to BayToday, emphasized “The motion does not say ‘one’ board, it asks for a comprehensive study of efficiencies.” Steer added, “A study may identify how we can pass on more resources for student success and well-being while working together.”
There are four school boards in Ontario, English public, English Catholic, French public, and French Catholic.
Steer also serves as a representative for the NNDSB on the Ontario Public School Board’s Association (OPSBA). He also chairs the Northern Region of OPSBA school boards and sits on the OPSBA executive.
In his motion, Steer included some information gathered by OPSBA, indicating “a troubling trend” within many school boards.
The motion detailed, “An increasing number of boards are grappling with deficits, which poses significant challenges in preserving essential classroom resources.” The motion continued to outline that since 2018 per pupil funding was $12,282.44. Adjusted for inflation, “per pupil funding now stands at $11,506.03, creating a gap of $776.41 per student.”
“This equates to a shortfall exceeding $1 billion,” as Steer’s motion highlights.
Steer emphasized, “Our health care system underwent an overhaul as mandated by the province. So could the delivery of education. Everything in the public sector has become more expensive to deliver as an essential service.”
The NNDSB detailed that there are around two million children in Ontario’s public schools. The English public school system is the largest, with 31 school boards and 1.3 million students. The English Catholic has 29 boards and just over half a million students.
The French Catholic system has eight school boards and about 76 thousand students, and the French public system has four school boards and just under 35 thousand students.
Steer said, “Regardless of background, all students can benefit from a new educational delivery system recognizing and including all existing Charter/Constitutional rights.”
Steer added, “In this day of such societal diversity, awareness and acceptance of a new way of delivering public education will allow for more resources for student success and well-being for all students – incorporating culture, religion and language.”
The NNDSB’s motion calls on the Ministry of Education “to initiate, study and begin consultations regarding efficiencies within the four-school board system model.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
