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The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board plans to cut 69 unionized positions by the end of August, the OCDSB has told CBC.
The cuts will impact “centrally managed staff to reduce central overhead and administrative inefficiencies,” a spokesperson for the provincially supervised board wrote to CBC News in an email Tuesday.
“The OCDSB’s Student-Focused Resource Optimization Project is prioritizing the classroom by rigorously evaluating resources through the lens of student achievement and well-being.”
Schools are not directly impacted, and there are no planned cuts to class-based positions or frontline student supports, the spokesperson said.
The news follows OCDSB’s audit committee meeting on April 28, where a report showed that the board was preparing to cut 83 full-time equivalent teacher positions (FTEs) due to shrinking student enrollment.
The province placed Ottawa’s largest school board under the supervision of Robert Plamondon last June, citing financial concerns.
According to a report from the OCDSB’s audit committee, elementary school enrollment is expected to drop by 766 students in September, while 938 fewer students are expected to enrol in secondary school at the start of the 2026-2027 school year.
Staff attribute part of the decrease in enrollment at the secondary level “to the transition of 600 students over the age of 21 to the Continuing Education Day School model.”
At the elementary level, staff said the reduction “aligns with broader provincial patterns” and is a result of several factors, including a decrease in birth rates, parents opting to keep kindergarten-aged children at home, fewer international students and a decline in immigration.
In an update to parents ahead of the audit committee meeting on April 28, Plamondon sent a message to parents saying the board had overestimated student enrollment for several years.
“As a result, instead of focusing on welcoming students and beginning instruction, staff were required to reorganize classrooms to address the likely shortfalls,” Plamondon wrote.
When it comes to teaching positions, the audit committee report said OCDSB is expecting 45.79 fewer FTEs in elementary schools and 37.50 at the secondary level.
“This reduction is expected to be fully absorbed within normal attrition rates resulting from retirements, resignations and leaves,” staff wrote.
The report also showed a projected drop of 1.83 FTEs in principal and vice-principal allocations.
Staff said the board’s operating budget for 2026-2027 is estimated to be $1.26 billion, with the cost of teacher, principal and vice-principal staffing representing about 53 percent of the overall operating budget.
The OCDSB declined an interview request with Plamondon, writing to CBC that “it is not within the supervisor’s mandate.”
Catholic board projects enrollment increase, again
While the OCDSB is projecting a drop in enrollment, the city’s Catholic school board is expecting another increase.
Last fall, the Ottawa Catholic School Board said enrolment had jumped 4.8 per cent from the year before, or by 2,436 students.
This coming fall, the board is expecting a 2.7 per cent increase in students, or 1,433 more by the end of October.
According to a report prepared for the board’s trustee meeting on April 28, staff are expecting to welcome 36,492 elementary students, up 856 from last year’s 35,636.
At the secondary level, the board is projecting 17,296 students for the 2026-2027 school year, up 577 from last year’s 16,719.
