More students, fewer classes: Ottawa’s largest school board responds to planned provincial changes

The capital's English-language public school board says the province's plan to increase high school class sizes will compromise the quality of education, and result in the loss of more than a thousand classes.

The Ford government is accepting feedback from Ontario's school boards on the proposed changes to funding and class sizes, which would increase the average high school class size from 22 to 28 students, over the next four years.

In a report, passed unanimously by trustees Tuesday evening, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board warns that the high school changes will result in the loss of 1,800 classes.

The board's report also points out that the size of some classes, like hands-on trades and technology courses, cannot be increased due to safety, equipment or other reasons. That, the board says, means school administrators will need to decide whether these courses can continue to be offered.

The high school class size changes would also mean the loss of about 300 teaching positions.

Class size increases in grades 4 through 8 are described by the province as “modest,” but the board cautions that it “will likely result in situations of unacceptably large classes in some schools, requiring funding to
be redirected from other needs in order to mitigate large class sizes.”

Ontario's education minister has said that the province currently has one of the lowest student-teacher ratios in the country. The education changes come as the province tries to reduce spending and trim the deficit.