Dear York Catholic District School Board Families,
The Board of Trustees and Senior Team are dedicated to the sound financial management of the money entrusted to us by the public. Unfortunately, the York Catholic DSB has faced several financial challenges in recent years, including declining school enrolment in our elementary schools, inadequate funding for special education, and rising transportation and IT infrastructure costs.
The provincial government requires school boards to operate within balanced budgets to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of our education system. Like many other School Boards across the province, the YCDSB is in a deficit, with a projected deficit of $10.5 million for the 2024-25 school year. Under provincial regulations, if a Board’s deficit is more than one per cent of its operating budget for two straight years it has to file a Multi-Year Financial Recovery Plan (MYFRP), which provides a path to return to balanced budgets. At yesterday’s Regular Board Meeting, the YCDSB Board of Trustees approved our MYFRP.
The Senior Team developed a series of recommendations, based on their professional expertise, on how the Board can balance its budget by the 2026-27 budget cycle while minimizing the impact on the day-to-day operations of our Board. As a Board of Trustees, our mandate was to ensure that our decisions do not impact the implementation of our Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) and our commitments to promoting the Catholic faith, academic excellence, equity and inclusion, and well-being. At a Special Board Meeting held on January 21st, Trustees approved recommendations that reduced spending, in some areas to better align with Ministry funding, as well as enabling staff to find ways to increase revenues. These were then incorporated into the MYFRP for final approval on January 28th.
You can read more about the financial adjustments that were approved by the Board of Trustees, in the January 21 and January 28, 2025, Regular Board Meeting agendas. You can also learn more about the Board’s past financial reports on the YCDSB’s Budget and Finance page.
We are deeply grateful for your continued support of the York Catholic District School Board. Together, we will navigate these challenges and remain the provincial leader in publicly funded Catholic education.
Yours in Catholic Education,
Elizabeth Crowe John De Faveri
Chair of the Board Director of Education, Foundation Chair
& Secretary of the Board