Regional schools to hire 169 teachers

More than 2,000 new students

WATERLOO REGION — Publicly funded English school boards expect to spend $1.1 billion to educate 84,492 students starting in September, a spending increase of 6.4 per cent.

Rising enrolment is driving part of the increase. Local public and Catholic school boards expect to add 2,042 students, an increase of more than two per cent.

Both boards are balancing their budgets as required by law, for submission to the Ministry of Education by June 30.

Combined, the boards expect to add 278 employees in the coming school year, including 169 classroom teachers.

Priorities of the Liberal government are also driving the spending increase. Teachers will see their pay increase four per cent by September 2019 to “ensure labour stability.” The government is spending more on special education, plans to further reduce class sizes, and is spending more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

An analysis by The Record shows the province has hiked spending per local student by 47 per cent since 2005, mostly to reduce class sizes, hire more teachers, and pay teachers more. This increase is about double the inflation rate.

Academic results are underwhelming. Standardized tests show that while local elementary students are testing better than in 2005, they haven’t kept pace with other Ontario students, drifting almost three percentage points farther behind the provincial average across reading, writing and math. Local high school students currently graduate at a rate in Ontario’s bottom third.

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board points to extra staff and to its expanding French immersion program as highlights of its next budget.

“Students will experience the benefits of significant investments in classroom technology, greater numbers of front-line staff for our students with the highest needs, and modifications to our buildings to improve building condition and efficiency,” board treasurer Shesh Maharaj said in a statement.

The Waterloo Region District School Board will begin replacing aging wireless technology.

It will launch a strategy to improve staff well-being and it will also review its communication practices.