54 Guelph elementary school teachers get layoff notices

Upper Grand District School Board has issued layoff notices to 54 elementary school teachers.

Officials with the board said there has been an "overall decrease in positions" due to a loss of provincial revenue, provincial changes to autism funding and local priority funding that expires at the end of August as well as "other typical staffing considerations."

The teachers will finish out the school year, but the layoff notices were issued now "because we must adhere to strict timelines outlined in our collective agreements on communicating layoff notices."

School board officials said the board is aware it will be working with less provincial funding. The board said it has had to issue similar notices in the past, most recently in 2015, and has been able to recall everyone who was laid off.

Officials said they expect to have a better understanding of their financial situation when full funding details from the province are released at the end of April.