This update provides a summary of the online special public meeting of the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board held June 24, 2021, livestreamed (the recorded version will be available within 24 hours). It is an unofficial summary of the meeting; official minutes will be approved at the next regular meeting in September.
Land acknowledgement
Mike Brant, Trustee, Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, recited the land acknowledgement: Let us bring our minds and hearts together as one to honour and celebrate these traditional lands as a gathering place of the Huron-Wendat, Anishinabek and Haudenosaunee people. It is with deep humility, that we acknowledge and offer our gratitude for their contributions to our community, having respect for all as we come together and walk side by side into the future to support our students of today.
Recommendations
2021-2022 Draft budget
Board members approved the draft budget for the 2021-2022 school year representing $215,149,504 for operating expenses and $31,347,113 for capital expenses.
Education funding is intended to mirror cost structures; however, school boards have flexibility in their actual expenditures. There are restrictions on how school boards may use their funding allocation which includes that budgets must be generally balanced, certain components of funding must be spent in a specified manner, and provincial regulations and ministry memoranda must be complied with.
The draft budget is generally a status-quo budget with adjustments for enrolment changes and the continuing operation of a virtual school to support remote learning. The draft budget contains a deficit for Ministry of Education compliance purposes of $794,581 which is solely due to the planned continuation of the HPEDSB COVID-19 response and which is compliant with ministry direction and the Education Act. Ministry memo 2021:SB08 states, "[a] school board may incur an in-year deficit up to the lower of one per cent of the school board's operating revenue or the accumulated surplus for the preceding school year, consistent with the requirements set out in Ontario Regulation 280/19." The proposed budget deficit is approximately 0.4% of the HPEDSB operating allocation and will reduce the accumulated surplus to $6.1 million.
ASSUMPTIONS
The draft budget was built around the following underlying assumptions:
- a COVID-19 response will continue into the fall;
- the current lowered elementary enrolment will continue and the secondary enrolment is forecast to remain at about the same level;
- a virtual school from Kindergarten to Grade 10 will be offered with a planned enrolment of 356 elementary and 118 secondary students;
- funding will be as calculated by the ministry's Electronic Financial Information System (EFIS) forms and is based on the GSN and PPF funding as announced by the ministry on May 4, 2021;
- central and local labour agreements, which include salary increases and specific funding allocations;
- number of central and department staff remain similar to 2020-2021;
- department and school budgets remain generally the same as 2020-2021;
- absence replacement costs do not increase;
- some new initiatives and cost adjustments that support student achievement, improve board operation, or reflect cost increases; and
- there is no explicit provision for a contingency amount.
ENROLMENT
Enrolment in 2020-2021 is lower than forecast in response to COVID-19 and students not attending school. The enrolment has gradually increased over the year and is above the level reported in Revised Estimates as students have gradually returned to school.
In 2020-2021, one-time stabilization funding was provided to offset the decline in revenue due to the unplanned decline in enrolment attributed to COVID-19. This funding is not available for 2021-2022 and the ministry has advised that school boards should take a conservative approach in their planning for the 2021-2022 school year given the uncertainty in enrolment.
Final average daily enrolment (ADE) projections for the purpose of developing the 2021-2022 budget were calculated based upon input from schools. There is a forecast of lower than normal elementary enrolment and little change for secondary enrolment.
Find out more starting on page 2 of the June 24, 2021 agenda (pdf).
Recommendation to dissolve the Ad Hoc QSS Revitalization Committee
Board members approved the dissolution of the Ad Hoc QSS Revitalization Committee.
Find out more starting on page 31 of the June 24, 2021 agenda (pdf).
For more information, please contact Kerry Donnell, Communications and Privacy Manager, 613-966-1170, extension 62354, or 613-847-0696, or [email protected]