A new funding formula introduced by the government at the start of the 2023 school year has had a detrimental impact on school transportation funding. Despite assurances that the formula would not have any negative effects, it has resulted in deficits for 53 out of 73 school boards this year. The formula does not account for the specific needs of the French-language school system, adversely affecting most of our French-language Catholic school boards. It fails to consider the minivans or taxis required for transporting small groups of students or for reducing travel time due to distance. Therefore, it is essential for the government to urgently review and adjust its budget formula.
Expenses for the 2022-2023 school year show a significant deficit of over $9.1 million. Compared to this year’s expenses, most of our school boards report even larger funding shortfalls for 2023-2024. Deficits are projected to range from 10% to 20% compared to this year, translating to an excess of $13.2 million for the eight French-language Catholic school boards. This new formula will undoubtedly lead to a reduction in services for students in the 2023-2024 school year, which is unacceptable.
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Education in June 2023, the Association franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques (AFOCSC) clearly highlighted the injustice of this new budgetary system and requested changes to make the new formula adapt to our needs while offsetting the deficit for the current year. Our requests have received no satisfactory responses.
We need to pressure our local representatives to urge the government to correct their formula, ensuring that the quality of education is not impacted.
Discuss this issue with your political table and reach out to the association to coordinate your advocacy efforts with the AFOCSC to address this serious inequity.
In January 2020, the Ministry of Education launched a review of student transportation aimed at achieving a more equitable, transparent, and accountable student transportation system in Ontario.
Grace Lee, spokesperson for Minister of Education Stephen Lecce, confirms that the current budget (2023-2024) is the highest it has been in the last four years.
Unfortunately, once again, the “One size fits all” approach favored by the government negatively impacts transportation funding for students in the Francophone minority.
A transparent “discussion” process led by the Ministry of Education resulted in the imposition of the new formula without considering the realities and needs of French-language school boards, despite multiple warnings to this effect.
Despite the government’s public announcements of unprecedented increases in the funds allocated to school boards for student transportation, the net result for school boards is a decrease in the available funds. The government’s calculation does not account for the negative effects of inflation on expenses, fluctuations in fuel prices, or the payment transfers to carriers that were previously paid directly by the government without affecting each school board’s budget. Yes, the budget seems higher, but there is less money directly allocated to school transportation routes.
ity in Ontario.
The funding formula must be immediately modified to account for the realities of French-language school boards, the needs of students and their families, and facilitate access to Catholic schools in their regions.
In the absence of adequate funding, school boards must absorb the negative impacts of the ministry’s decisions. This is unacceptable. The boards will have to identify areas to cut if the formula is not modified.
Despite tight management by our transportation consortia, transportation cost pressures are experiencing cost increases beyond their control. The funding formula must consider economic parameters, the impact of the ministry’s cost-transfer decisions, and, most importantly, the students’ needs for access to quality education.
We believe that the ministry should compensate the boards penalized by their decision to change the transportation funding formula, as it impacts the school boards’ reserves. This reserve must be dedicated to financial emergencies and investment in education-related development projects. Last year, the impact was a deficit of over 9 million dollars; this year, it is over 13 million dollars. What will be the impact for the 2024-2025 year?
