$18 million in savings must be found in Ottawa-Carleton District School Board 2025-26 draft budget

The OCDSB says it remains hopeful a deal can still be reached before Wednesday.

Ottawa’s public school board is looking at millions of dollars in budget cuts to special education, instruction and administration spending to eliminate an $18 million deficit for the next school year.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) presented the $1.2 billion budget for the 2025-26 school year Tuesday night, outlining the spending plan for the new school year.

Associate Director of Education Randall Gerrior told trustees the draft budget includes spending reductions of $4.98 million for special education, $5.97 million in administration spending and $4.22 million in reductions on instruction.

• Ottawa Catholic School Board eyes $16 million in new expenditures as OCDSB looks for $20 million in cuts

The school board is reducing staffing levels by 135 full-time equivalent positions for the next school year, including enrolment-based academic staff, Kindergarten early childhood educators and extended day and early learning staff. The board is also cutting 12 E-Learning positions, and nine elementary teaching and central coaching discretionary positions.

A total of 30 Kindergarten Early Childhood Educators positions will be cut in the budget, along with 14 LSS-Educational Assistants, three LSS-Psychologists and 2.5 LSS-Special Language Pathologists. Other staffing cuts include 18 elementary teachers and three secondary school teachers.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board must find $18 million in savings to avoid posting a deficit budget for the fifth straight year. According to the draft budget, the OCDSB owes $11.1 million for the Ministry of Education to cover deficits for previous school years.

Elementary school enrolment is expected to drop from 51,738 students in 2024-25 to 51,071 students in 2025-26, while secondary school enrolment is expected to increase from 26,077 students in 2024-25 to 26,149 students next school year.

The OCDSB will hold another budget meeting Wednesday evening.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board also presented its 2025-26 budget Tuesday evening, outlining $16.8 million in “new permanent and one-time enhancements” using operating surpluses and reserves.

According to the report, the $4.3 million in new “non-salary expenditures” includes $375,000 for AI softwares, $500,000 for school budget increases to address inflationary budgets, $500,000 in one-time cash to support school initiatives, $500,000 for furniture and equipment, and $500,000 to refresh sports and arts equipment in schools.

The board will use its accumulated surplus to fund $2 million in investments in skills trades initiatives, a $2 million investment in inclusion and well-being through the Lens of Deep Learning and $1 million for play structure renewal.