Ontario marginally increases school board funding, but per-pupil amount drops

Ontario is marginally increasing overall funding to school boards, but rising enrolment means the amount boards will get per student is dropping.

The Progressive Conservative government announced 2019-20 school board funding today, and it shows that boards will get $12,246 per pupil, versus the $12,300 they got in this school year.

Overall funding will be $24.66 billion, up slightly from $24.53 billion this year.

Education Minister Lisa Thompson is also telling boards that with a $1.6-billion attrition protection fund, “it is expected” they will not lay off teachers because of class size and e-learning changes.

Thompson announced last month that high school class sizes will increase from an average of 22 to 28 over four years, average class sizes for Grades 4 to 8 will increase by one student per classroom, and students will need to complete four courses via e-learning.

School boards have said that will mean thousands of teaching jobs are lost, and some boards have been issuing surplus notices to teachers, prompting worries that those people will be laid off.