For the 2012-13 school year, the York Region District School Board welcomes approximately 121,400 students in 170 elementary and 31 secondary schools. This represents a 2.4% increase of students over the previous year.

Working within its available resources and projected growth, the Board will continue to provide high quality learning opportunities for all students to ensure their success.

The annual budget for the York Region District School Board is $1,214,828,000; comprised of $1,122,226,000 for operating expenditures and $92,602,000 allocated for capital expenditures. Five new elementary schools opened in September 2012 and two elementary schools were combined into one location.

Development of the budget is an ongoing process that reflects decisions made throughout the year, Board priorities and the direction provided by the Trustees' Multi-Year Plan and the Director's Annual Plan.

The following are highlights of the many priorities addressed in the 2012-2013 budget:

• Student achievement
• Additional staffing to support students
• Mental health issues
• Special education
• Support for new teachers and school administrators.

Our Board continues to actively solicit the participation of many interested groups in the budget process. Input was received from a variety of sources, including presentations from the Special Education Advisory Committee, Equity and Inclusivity Advisory Committee, York Region - Ontario Principal's Council and York Region Managers' Council.

The following charts reflect the allocation of the Board's budgeted revenues and expenditures:

click to view

click to view

Provincial Framework Labour Agreements

The Ministry provides funding to finance the budget commitments as outlined in the Provincial Framework Labour Agreements (PFAs). The two year funding constraints for textbooks, classroom computers and staff development, introduced in 2009-10 and extended to the 2011-2012 school year, are now permanent.

During the formulation of the budget, Board staff work to ensure that funding reductions are implemented in a way that minimizes the impact on students in the classroom. For instance, school technology remains a high priority for the Board. For 2012-13, the school technology budget remains at $6.2 million as compared to $4.5 million in 2009-10. The impact of funding reductions to in-school budgets continues to be mitigated through the reallocation of funds from other areas.

Continued funding commitments from the Ministry are summarized below:

1. Additional Staff in Schools (provided in the PFAs)

• Elementary specialist teachers to support additional preparation time for elementary teachers
• Elementary teachers to reduce class sizes in Grades 4 to 8
• Secondary teachers to support locally developed programs in secondary schools Subsequent to budget approval, the Ministry announced reductions in the funding provided to support secondary programming

2. Benchmark Adjustments

• Increased funding for utilities and insurance expenses
• Subsequent to budget approval, the per-pupil funding benchmark for elementary professional learning was reduced

The Ministry announced the following six areas of financial restraint:

1) Salary increases
2) Textbook and classroom computer portions of the Pupil Foundation Grant
3) Staff development
4) Funding for administration
5) Short term sick leave plan and termination of the current retirement gratuity plan
6) Program Enhancement Grants that support the arts, physical education and outdoor education

For more information, please see the 2012-2013 Budget Book.

Updated December 2012