Parents and students protest proposed OCDSB cuts to education

Anger is mounting: There were chants for Pino Buffone, director of education for the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, to resign Wednesday night, as demonstrators held signs outside the Greenbank Road board office. They were protesting proposed school boundary changes which could separate siblings and cause more havoc for parents. 

What’s at stake: The OCDSB has plans to change the map boundaries impacting 123 schools. That would see about 11,000 students need to switch educational facilities by September 2026, which is 5,000 more than in a normal year. 

At a special meeting where more than a dozen delegates spoke, Buffone shared his sympathy with parents. 

• “I understand the impact across the district is differentiated and we are looking at areas that I would consider hot spots, so to speak, in tonight's conversation," said Buffone, according to CBC. "Our planners are well aware of these sites to see what we can do."

Among the schools which could see drastic changes are Kars on the Rideau Public School and Woodroffe Avenue Public School. Kayla Fernet, whose son goes to school in Kars, said “the board's proposal worsens utilization, increases inefficiencies, under-uses existing facilities, requires costly retrofits and creates unnecessary upheaval for our children, our families, our educators and our community, without clear benefits.” 

She said that the status quo is a better option. 

Grade changes: A total of 30 schools would see grade reconfigurations. It’s a little bit confusing to explain, but some would go from Kindergarten to Grade 3, others from Grade 3 to 8. Some would stay Kindergarten to Grade 6, some only Grades 7 and 8. 

This would cause a lot of complications. 

Some students would need to pass their old school and cross major arterial roads to another one further away. Buildings with kinder-sized toilets would need to be retrofitted to accommodate teenagers. Parents would deal with the logistics of having children in two schools, or would lose their after-care situations, reported CBC. 

• The OCDSB admits the changes would not be “felt equitably across the district,” and noted the changes will be felt more in the “core, some of the older suburbs and some rural areas than the newer suburbs, which are quite stable in this model change.”

And since the original plans were shared, Buffone noted they were trying to make changes so not as many students would need to change schools after Grade 3. 

Cuts to specialized programs: The following specialized programs would be eliminated altogether, according to CTV. They include:

• General Learning Program – Junior (6 classes, 16 students/class)

• Gifted – Primary (1 class; up to 20 students/class)

• Language Learning Disabilities Program – Primary and Junior (11 classes, 10 students/class)

• Learning Disabilities Semi-Integrated Program – Junior and Intermediate (14 classes; 8 students/class)

• Primary Special Needs Program (7 classes; 10 students/class)

Cuts to jobs: During a meeting on March 18, trustees voted seven-to-five in favor of cutting 150 jobs. The board said it was needed due to a $20 million deficit it’s facing on its $1.2 billion budget for the next school year, reported the Ottawa Citizen. 

About 80 non-academic positions will be cut, resulting in savings of $7.08 million. Another 70 staff in discretionary academic roles such as e-learning are also being eliminated, which will save $8.823 million.

• “We really can’t run another deficit budget,” Ottawa-Carleton District School Board chair Lynn Scott said. “We are out of reserves, and I am heartened by the fact that in this staff appear to have done their utmost to ensure that classroom staffing will be protected.”