EFIS Instructions
2025-26
2025-26 Estimates
Appendices
Appendix R

Appendix R - Supports for Students Fund Supplementary Information

This form is used to track Supports for Students Fund (SSF) related expenses and Full Time Equivalency (FTE).

To support this tracking, this section provides school boards information on funding that supports SSF as set out in respective collective agreements. It is provided through two sources in the Core Education Funding:

  • the SSF and ISP components (within the Classroom Staffing Fund (CSF), the Learning Resources Fund (LRF), and the School Facilities Fund (SFF)) for all groups, and

  • the Supplemental Adult Day School/Continuing Education Component of the Continuing Education and Other Programs Allocation within the LRF for Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) and Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) only.

Funding amounts that are broken out by bargaining group and the eligible staffing category list are both pre-loaded.

The SSF amounts in the 2025-26 Estimates now reflect all labour changes related to the 2023-27 agreements for Principals and Vice-Principals (PVP) and 2022-26 agreements for teachers and education workers unions.

This form is provided in all reporting cycles to help school boards in planning and tracking their SSF related expenses and FTE information, but only needs to be submitted in the Financial Statements cycle.

Use of Funding:

School boards should continue to use this funding for its intended purpose under respective collective agreements for appropriate employee groups.

Below is a list of eligible categories, though please note it will be different for each bargaining unit:

  • Special Education Support
  • English Language Learners Support
  • Indigenous Student Support
  • Mental Health and Wellbeing Initiatives
  • Early Years Special Education Support
  • Unique Learning Needs
  • STEM Curriculum Needs
  • Promoting Safe, Healthy and Caring Schools
  • Special Education Staff Amount (EAs, Child and Youth Workers, Counsellors, etc.)
  • Other Staffing Amount (Office, Clerical and Technical, and Custodial Employees)
  • Other: Please Specify
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Note: The only category that applies to Principals and Vice-Principals is “Other: Please Specify”. However, school boards can still use the “Other: Please Specify” category to report eligible expenses for other groups that are not identified in the category list above.

School boards with unspent funds should discuss with their local unions how best to use the funding. If the underspending is related to hiring delays, this could be discussed at the local level in consultation with the trustees’ association. In the absence of an agreeable solution to address the underspending, the school board may set aside the amounts in their accumulated surplus in the event this becomes a matter for central bargaining. If the underspending is related to benchmarks versus actual salaries, that difference can be spent at the discretion of the school board.

Item 1.3 (ISP for Principals and Vice-Principals prior year carryforward): This value is loaded from Section 3G, item 4.2. It is the unspent PVP ISP funding from 2024-25, which is available for school boards to spend on system priorities for PVPs during the current school year.

TAB: SSF - Supplementary Information

School boards are requested to enter the staffing FTEs and related expenses in the input cells under the ‘FTE’ and ‘Dollars’ columns.

The ‘Variance’ line indicates the difference between the ‘Total Funding Amounts’ less the dollar amount under the ‘Total Eligible Categories’.

TAB: Notes

School boards can also provide additional information or notes related to the use of the funding for individual employee groups under the ‘Notes’ column. Note: there is a 1,000-character limit in EFIS.

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Appendix M