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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12c COW (Budget) Report 6 22 Aug 2006 Minutes PublicOTTAWA — CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD REPORT NO. 6 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE (BUDGE DATE: 22 August 2006 A meeting of the Committee of the Whole (Budget) was held this evening commencing at 7:35 p.m. in the Board Room, 133 Greenbank Road, Ottawa, with Trustee Riley Brockington in the Chair and the following also in attendance: Trustees Bronwyn Funiciello, Alex Getty, Lynn Graham, Greg Laws, Margaret Lange, Jim Libbey, Norm MacDonald, David Moen, David Primeau, Lynn Scott and Joan Spice (by telephone). Student Trustees: Oliver Khan Staff. Director of Education and Secretary of the Board, Lorne Rachlis; Chief Financial Officer, Michael Clarke, Executive Superintendent, Diane Jeudy -Hugo, Superintendents Jennifer Adams, Michael Carson, Laura McAlister, Janice McCoy and Glenda Stevenson, Coordinator of Budget Services, Financial Systems Support and Labour Relations Costing, Charles D'Aoust, Executive Officer, Michele Giroux, Assistant Treasurer, Cathy Dempsey, Manager of Communications and Information Services, Maggie Melenhorst; Manager of Board Services, Monica Ceschia; Communications Coordinator, Sharlene Hunter, AV Technician, Robert Giekes; and Senior Board Coordinator, Maureen Strittmatter. Non - Voting Representatives: Ottawa - Carleton Assembly of School Councils (OCASC), Elaine Morgan, Elementary Operations Committee (EOC), Colleen Robazza; Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation ( OSSTF) — PSSP, Tom Bickford, OSSTF — EA, Cynthia Dubuc, OSSTF — Teachers, Kerry Houlahan; OSSTF — SOT, Ron Shewchuk; OSSTF — ESP, Bonnie Cheung and Sharon Campbell, OSSTF — PSSP, Tom Bickford, OSSTF — PSSU, Andrew Horwood, Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAL), Lamar Mason, and Unaffiliated, Dave Miller. Call to Order Trustee Brockington called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. Trustee Brockington provided an update on the Special Board meeting held prior to the COW (Budget) meeting. The staff recommendation that the Board approve in principle the Ministry's offer of interim financing subject to negotiating an extended timeline for the restructuring of special education expenditures was not accepted and therefore Model A in the budget document becomes moot. A substitute motion, Model B, will be used for the budget process. He further noted that a recommendation before the Board to have a record of committee decision votes for the Committee of the Whole (Budget) meetings was not in order and therefore recorded votes will not be published. In lieu, an oral role call of trustees in favour or opposed will be held and this information will be made available to Trustee Funiciello. Approval of Agenda On a motion by Trustee Scott, the agenda was approved as circulated. Committee of the Whole (Budget) - 1 - 22 August 2006 Public Question Period a) Greg Bonnah In response to a question by Mr. Bonnah as to what steps the Board has taken to ensure that it is working within the government's vision of education, Director Rachlis noted that the Board implements the provincial curriculum in its schools and adheres to the requirements of the Education Act. The Director noted that the Board has program entered into reviews including a special education to reassess how services are delivered. b) David Humphries David Humphries questioned how parents and students would pay the extra cost of S 120 per month for private physiotherapy if the cuts were made to this area. Superintendent Stevenson noted that students would be referred to CCAC for this service. C) Sheryl MacDonald Mrs. MacDonald noted the importance of the role of custodians and support staff to students within the system and requested that trustees consider this when setting the budget. Trustee Brockington acknowledged the comment and stated that there would be a thorough analysis. d) Izabella Trajdos Ms. Trajdos' expressed concern that, with the proposed cuts to special needs students, they will not have access to some specialized equipment because of liability issues and thus their learning may be restricted. Superintendent Stevenson reiterated that CCAC is the special health service that students would be referred to as is done at other boards of education. e) Paul Bendus Mr. Bendus noted that special needs children miss approximately 5 minutes of class daily in order to be on time for the school bus. He commented that a petition was currently being prepared for presentation to the Board. Trustee Brockington noted the Board would receive the petition, and referred Mr. Bendus to the Superintendent of Facilities with any specific transportation questions. f) Norman Carrey In response to Mr. Carrey's concerns about the possible impact of cuts to education assistants on the classroom and in meeting children's needs, Superintendent Stevenson noted that a Special Education review currently underway will address service delivery. Committee of the Whole (Budget) - 2 - 22 August 2006 Delegations a) Bonnie Cheung, Educational Support Professionals Unit On behalf of the Educational Support Professionals Unit, Bonnie Cheung expressed concern with the proposed budget reductions to this unit. She noted that they have already suffered a significant loss in June of this year, with the approval of a reduction in the school -based office staff allocation. Some of the implications of the proposed budget option were noted. b) Cindy Dubuc, Educational Assistant Bargaining Unit On behalf of the Education Assistant (EA) Bargaining Unit, Cindy Dubuc expressed concern with the proposed cuts to the EA bargaining unit. She noted that in almost every school location, Principals had requested more EA's than were allocated to their schools. There are currently 10,000 identified special education students and only 615 EA's and in some cases EA's are being assigned to support students that are not identified, but are in need. The elementary Itinerant Education Assistants (IEAs) and secondary IEA positions together serviced a total of 759 students in the 2005 -2006 school year. The IEA provides services to "at risk" and "extremely volatile" students that ensure that the school is a safe learning environment, and acts as the Board liaison to parents providing assistance to students on limited expulsion. The position has recently been expanded to include the creation and implementation of anger management groups. The Job Coach position provides assistance to the developmentally delayed population, assisting students to develop to their full potential as members of society. They provide students with job, bus and social training. In response to a trustee query, Ms. Dubuc confirmed that there currently is no community agency which could provide the services offered by the position of Job Coach. It was confirmed that with a 10 -day intervention, staff work with the students, staff and parents for 10 days and often the programs need to be reassessed year- after- year. In response to a query, Ms. Dubuc confirmed that there are currently 17 IEA positions and 5.5 Job Coaches. C) Jennifer McKenzie and Dai Chaplin, Citizen Advocates for Public Education Jennifer McKenzie and Dai Chaplin voiced concern over the possibility of the proposed cuts affecting the frontline workers that assist the special needs and immigrant children. Mr. Chaplin provided a spreadsheet noting proposed trade offs to the $3.3M cut to front -line spending for the budget process. Committee of the Whole (Budget) -3 - 22 August 2006 d) Hamdi Mohamoud and Wali Farah, Ottawa Community. Immigrant Services Organization Mr. Farah noted that Multicultural Liaison Officers (MLOs) provide a critical service by effectively facilitating essential communication and understanding between newcomer parents and staff. They provide fundamental information, sensitization, education support, conflict resolution and service referrals for newcomer children, their parents, teachers and administration. In the 2005 -2006 school year, the MLO program team made more than 16,000 contacts with clients and held more than 100 workshops and orientation sessions for groups of parents, students and staff members. With new funding provided last year, the MLOs were able to track and serve every immigrant family that commenced within our system, an increase of eight schools were assigned an MLO, and an increase of approximately 5,000 contacts were made from the previous year. Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO) encourages the Board to continue its support, and believes that the services offered by the MLO Program are critical to provide opportunities to succeed for the most vulnerable students and their families. In response to a query, Mr. Farah confirmed that eight schools were serviced by the addition of three additional staff, there are a total of 16 MLOs in the system with 4.5 FTE being new hires working at both elementary and secondary schools, and that the three additional MLOs are funded entirely by the Board while the other positions are funded by Immigration Canada. On a motion by Trustee Moen, the Committee went into an in camera session between 8:10 and 8:50 to deal with a legal matter. Notice of Motions to Amend Budget Trustee Brockington reiterated that the proposed Model A is moot, and suggested that a substitute motion recommending Model B would be in order. Trustee Lange placed the recommendation from the revised report on the floor, viz: A. THAT the Board approve the 2006 -2007 operating budget in the amount of $611.4 million, as set out in the Model B section of Report 06 -177. B. THAT the Board approve the use of $13 million of reserves in financing its 2006 -2007 budget, subject to receiving the Minister of Education's approval for the conversion of the Wide Area Network specific reserve to a working fund reserve. C. THAT the Board directs that the annual $150,000 transfer to the Wide Area Network specific reserve end for 2006 -2007 and future years. Committee of the Whole (Budget) - 4 - 22 August 2006 In response to trustee enquiries, Chief Financial Officer Clarke noted that from discussions with the Ministry he is fairly certain that approval under Part B of the motion would be received, but alternatively a statement could be added to the motion indicating "subject to the Minister of Education's approval ". * * * At the request of Trustee Brockington, Trustee Scott assumed the Chair * * * a) Reductions to Expenditures i) Reduce E- Learning Funding (up to $250,000) (Amendment by Trustee Brockington) THAT e- Learning funding be reduced by $220,000, excluding funding for South Carleton High School, West Carleton Secondary School and Osgoode Township High School. Trustee Brockington noted that the reduction excludes West Carleton Secondary School, South Carleton High School and Osgoode Township High School as he considers e- learning essential for students in rural and low enrolment schools. Superintendent Adams reported that last year there were four sections of e- learning courses offered as well as development of course curriculum and teacher training. This year, six sections of e- learning have already been commitment for the upcoming year with a total cost of approximately $80,000. The total budget covers the cost of teaching time, development of course curriculum, teacher training and upgrades in equipment. A sub - amendment by Trustee Moen THAT the dollar value be reduced from $220, 000 to $170, 000 was accepted as friendly. Superintendent Adams noted that with a reduction to the $170,000, the training of teachers and course development could not take place. A sub - amendment by Trustee Lange THAT the words "excluding funding for South Carleton High School, West Carleton SecondaJ -, School and Osgoode Township High School" be removed was accepted as friendly. Trustee Spice moved a sub - amendment THAT the words 'for one near only " be added. In response to a Trustee enquiry, Superintendent McAlister noted that most of the $170,000 was used for the development of new courses, courses which are not provided by the Ministry but sought by students. It was estimated that staff development amounts to approximately $15,000 to $20,000. Trustee Scott confirmed that if the amendment specified "for one year" for the 2007 -2008 budget year, the amount would revert to the 2005 -2006 amount, otherwise the change would remain unless changed by a further motion. The sub - amendment adding 'for one near only " was defeated. Committee of the Whole (Budget) - 5 - 22 August 2006 A sub - amendment by Trustee Primeau THAT the dollar value be reduced from $170, 000 to $155, 000 was accepted as friendly. In wrap -up, Trustee Brockington noted that e- learning would be beneficial in the rural schools, but the Board should work with the province to develop their needs and in the future provide to all schools. The amendment, including three friendly sub - amendments, was carried, and the following addition was made to the budget: THAT E- Learning funding be reduced by $155,000. ii) Reduce 1.0 FTE of Support Staff from the Continuing Education Department (up to $50,000) (Amendment by Trustee Brockington) THAT 1.0 FTE of support staff from the Continuing Education Department be reduced ($43,667). Trustee Brockington stated that there currently are 17 support staff in the Continuing Education Department, which operates on a cost recovery basis. It was noted that in 2004 -2005 and 2005 -2006 Continuing Education ended in a deficit position, but prior to this there was a history of operating on a cost recovery basis or better. The cost of facilities have been charged back to Continuing Education, fees were raised in an attempt to compensate and a significant loss in enrollment has occured. Recently, programs have been added, e.g., trades through the City of Ottawa and the department is trying to maximize grant funds. Confirmation was made that the Board does not charge back for classroom usage for adult day /night school credit courses, but Continuing Education pays a fee if they collect monies from the students. In wrap -up, Trustee Brockington reiterated that he was looking for savings that would not have a serious impact on students, and he was not convinced that the loss of 1.0 FTE would hurt revenues. The amendment was defeated. iii) Reduce Legal Fees by $52,578 (Amendment by Trustee Brockington) THAT legal fees be reduced by $52,578. Trustee Brockington noted that the actual legal costs in 2004 -2005 were $300,000 and would like to bring down the current budget to the same level. Committee of the Whole (Budget) - 6 - 22 August 2006 Chief Financial Officer Clarke noted that the overall legal fees for 2005 -2006 are expected to be approximately $620,000 with costs to date of $543,000. The Board does control costs arising from appeals and litigation, and the expectation is that expenditures will rise. The amendment was defeated. iv) Reduce 1.0 FTE from Board Services Trustee Brockington stated that he was not prepared to put this amendment on the floor at this time. * * * Trustee Brockington resumed the Chair * * * V) Reduce the Occasional Teacher budget by $3,000,000 (Amendment by Trustee Libbey) THAT the Occasional Teacher Budget be reduced by a further $3,000,000. Trustee Libbey noted that Model B of the Budget includes a cut to the Occasional Teacher budget in the amount of $1,000,000, but felt that there is a possibility of increasing this amount by decreasing professional development activities and having teachers work together in teams. Chief Financial Officer Clarke confirmed that additional information on this increased reduction would be provided. He also noted that there is a proposed reduction in Model B of $2,400,000 LOG funds and a large part of these expenditures are for professional development and thus with this cut there would be an overlap. In response to a trustee enquiry, Superintendent Jeudy -Hugo noted that a cut in the Occasional Teacher budget of this magnitude could present some serious operational challenges in both the elementary and secondary panel, as students must still be supervised and there could be issues around safety. In response to a query about the effectiveness of the attendance management training system, Chief Financial Officer Clarke stated that after the first year of training there was a reduction in costs of approximately $1,000,000, but the costs have risen since that time. It is the expectation that training will be reinstated early in the year and hopefully will result in the $1,000,000 savings. Superintendent McCoy confirmed that the majority of absences are due to illness. The attendance management system is based on a multi- faceted approach and staff will be looking at wellness issues to see what the employer can do to reduce absences. Trustee Libbey moved a sub - amendment THAT the reduction be reduced from $3, 000, 000 to $1, 000, 000. Committee of the Whole (Budget) - 7 - 22 August 2006 Adjournment A two - thirds majority to continue the meeting past 10:30 p.m. was not obtained. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Riley Brockington, Chair Committee of the Whole (Budget) /ms Committee of the Whole (Budget) - 8 - 22 August 2006