Ottawa public school board shuffling teachers at 40 schools as it deals with 1,100 student drop in elementary enrolment

An advisory council is discussing stopping the playing of the national anthem at OCDSB schools (Colton Praill/CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa's largest school board will finish reorganizing staff and students at 40 schools this week, as it deals with a significant drop in enrolment this school year.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) says enrolment was 1,130 students below projections in elementary schools in September, including 750 fewer Kindergarten students.

"As a result of being down that number of students in elementary, we have had some reorganization, and that reorganization is taking place this week," Shawn Lehman, OCDSB Superintendent, told trustees earlier this week.

"As of Friday, all students in our elementary classes that are in new classes will be with their new teacher."

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The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board's 2024-25 budget estimated enrolment at 51,683 elementary students for this school year. The drop in enrolment is spread out at schools across the city, trustees were told.

Lehman says enrolment has "built up" since the start of the school year, with approximately 700 new students arriving in schools.

The school board says due to the decrease in enrolment, it cut 42 full-time equivalent positions across the system, impacting 40 schools. Thirty-eight schools cut one class, while two schools have been reduced by two classes. A memo to trustees said two schools added one class as part of the school reorganization process.

Secondary school enrolment is just under 27,000 students this school year, which is up 10 students from enrolment projections.

Trustees were told that the lower enrolment will have a "significant impact" on the public school board's finances for the 2024-25 school year, but revised estimates are not available at this time.

While some trustees wondered if the enrolment decline was due to the OCDSB's elementary school program review, Director of Education Pino Buffone said the drop is due to a number of factors.

"It appears, from our perspective, there are multiple factors, including one of the important ones at the elementary level is families having access to a community school for the programs they're looking for and having to, in some cases, bypass local schools to get to a program they're looking for," Buffone said.

Staff added feedback gathered from staff and principals on the declining enrolment include families moving neighbourhoods or moving out of the Ottawa area, but the reasons have not been consistent.

The OCDSB is conducting a review of all elementary school programs, including changes to French immersion and special education classes, with recommendations for changes expected in the spring.