Durham school board stamps $904 million budget for 2018-19 school year
By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express
All of the I’s have been dotted and T’s crossed on the Durham District School Board’s 2018-19 budget.
It calls for a $780 million operating budget and $124 million in capital costs, increases of $20 million and $12 million respectively from 2017-18.
In all, DDSB staff has estimated a surplus of just over $6 million based on $854,582,735 in revenue versus expenses of $848,491,635.
The board will need to redirect $3 million towards special education in order to make up for a funding shortfall from the province.
The majority of that amount will come from the administrative budget ($2 million) while the remaining monies is being redirected from spending on facilities.
About $3 million will be invested in innovation projects such as new furniture and equipment to make classrooms and libraries more ‘flexible’ and for licensing of virtual tools.
There will also be one-time funding of $750,000 each for the creation of a mental health strategic plan, expansion of the Early Years initiatives and support for equity and diversity measures.
There are also a number of school improvement projects set for Oshawa schools, such as a $2.2 million roof replacement at RS McLaughlin Collegiate and Vocational Institute, $600,000 in masonry work at Dr. S.J. Phillips Public School, $600,000 for interior modifications at Village Union Public School, and $500,000 in masonry work at Waverly Public School.
DDSB will also invest $2.32 million for greenhouse gas reduction initiatives and $8.4 million to install air conditioning at about dozen schools across the region.
In terms of government assistance, for the second straight year, DDSB will receive more than $7 million from the province’s Learning Opportunities grant program to address local priorities. This funding has been earmarked for the additional hiring of 34 new teachers and 27 educational assistants.
The largest expenditure for DDSB is staffing costs with approximately $663.4 million of the $780 million operating budget going to instruction, an increase of $13.3 million over 2017-18.
Looking at the students this budget will serve, five-year enrolment projections for DDSB predict a slight decline through 2022.
However, these estimates only take registered plans of subdivisions into account.
Areas of future residential development growth, such as Seaton, west Whitby, Brooklin and north Oshawa are expected to boost enrolment numbers as they gain approval from the region.
Oshawa will welcome two new public schools over the next year.
Northern Dance Public School is set to open at Northern Dancer Drive and Bridle Road this September.
A new elementary school scheduled to be built in Oshawa’s north end is set to open in September 2019.
The yet-to-be named facility will be built at Greenhill Avenue and Clearbrook Drive, just west of the Legends Centre.
The school, which will take on students from the existing Sherwood Public School, with a budget of $12.7 million, with $10.2 million of those expenditures contained within next year’s budget.
It is one of six new schools DDSB will build through 2021.