GUELPH – The Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) has passed the 2022-23 school year budget.
At a June 28 budget meeting, trustees approved an operating budget of $432,285,649. The capital budget was approved at $52,485,533.
The Ontario government is providing additional COVID-19 related funding to support resources to address the following priorities: learning recovery, the implementation of the first year of a fully de-streamed Grade 9, the delivery of remote learning, supports for special education and enhanced cleaning standards.
The total 2022-23 UGDSB budget includes $422,328,295 in GSN revenue and $9,957,354 in other revenue sources.
The UGDSB’s 2022–23 GSN amount is $12.5 million higher than 2021-22 budget.
The GSN amount includes adjustments for enrolment and benchmark changes, additional COVID Learning Recovery funding and transfers of amounts previously in Priorities and Partnerships Funds (PPF)
The board allocations of the PPF reflects a decrease of $2.6 million. This decrease is primarily driven by COVID-19 supports transferring to the GSN. Other funding sources were essentially flat year over year.
Enrolment projections for 2022-23 indicates growth in the elementary panel and slight increase in the secondary panel.
The 27.5 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) increase in elementary teachers is primarily due to an additional 25 FTE to provide Learning Recovery Support.
The 13.69 FTE increase in secondary teachers is primarily due to an additional 13.33 FTE to provide Learning Recovery Support.
Teacher assistants provide a variety of supports to students in the classroom, in particular students with special needs. There are additional expenditures for teacher assistants, which reflects anticipated extra support required for the upcoming school year.
In the category of Professionals, Paraprofessionals and Technicians, there is an FTE increase of 9.7 FTE, which is primarily driven by the 6 FTE increase in mental health supports including social workers, mental health professionals and child and youth counsellors. The balance of the change includes 2.2 FTE increase in Speech and Language supports and additional Digital Support Services (IT) of 1.5 FTE.
The budget process began in January and referred to the UGDSB’s Guiding Principles for Budget which focused on the allocation of human and financial resources on the success and well-being of every child, with an emphasis on the Board Improvement Plan for Student Needs, equity principles to ensure the well-being and achievement of all students and staff, accountability, high quality teaching, strong leadership in all areas of the organization, and consideration for the impact of climate change as it relates to the future well-being of our students, community and planet.
The guiding principles will be reviewed as part of the board’s multi-year plan that will set priorities for the next four years.
