A decision to axe 50 special-education teaching positions in Ottawa by no means contradicts the government's pledge to hold off on such cuts, said Ontario Education Minister Elizabeth Witmer Wednesday.

The newly appointed supervisor to the Ottawa-Carleton School Board announced those cuts Tuesday.

Ms. Witmer said that supervisors, chosen by the province to take control of the Ottawa, Toronto and Hamilton boards from their trustees, are free to make whatever budget cuts they deem necessary, including those she recently ruled out.

"It's up to the supervisors to make the decisions based on the advice on the people in that community," Ms. Witmer told reporters before heading into a cabinet meeting.

"[They] will make the decisions based on the best information that they have."

Last week, however, the Minister ruled out any immediate cuts to special education programs in the Ottawa-Carleton municipality, saying it was too late to make such cuts without disrupting the school year for children.

On Tuesday she made similar reassurances as she announced that supervisors would be brought in to help Toronto and Hamilton school trustees make the necessary cuts to balance their budgets.

In an interview with Canadian Press, Ottawa supervisor Merv Beckstead explained that the decision he made Tuesday to axe teaching positions immediately amounts to little more than "cutting on the margins."

"There's clearly a reduction in service but we don't think it's dramatic at all," said Mr. Beckstead.

He said that board staff had, in fact, argued for far bigger cuts given that the municipality has the highest level of special education services in the province.

But the mother of one 11-year-old girl in Ottawa said the cuts will compromise the education of her special-needs child.

"The cuts were meant to start next year — that's what Ms. Witmer said when she took over the board," Hillary White told globeandmail.com Wednesday.

She said a loss of 50 teachers to the board's special-education program will only exacerbate those already underfunded classes.

"Is it a reduction in service? Yes." said Mr. Beckstead. "Maybe the other question should be, 'Should the level of service have ever been that high in the first place?' and I think the staff would tell you 'no.'"

He said the 50 teachers will be reintroduced into the mainstream system to gain maximum efficiencies.

But the special-ed cuts and other measures amount to as little as $4.7-million in savings. The Ottawa board is expected to take out bank loans for another $18-million in order to meet its expenses.

In justifying her decision to take over public schools in the three cities, which together serve almost 500,000 students, Ms. Witmer rejected suggestions that the government had failed to provided enough money.

She said the boards themselves had ran afoul of a long-standing provincial law requiring balanced books.

"It's not a case of how much money, it's a case of how the money is being spent and unfortunately, it's not going into the classrooms for students," said Ms. Witmer.

Toronto was projecting a $89-million shortfall, while Hamilton estimated it would be $16-million in the red.

Ms. Witmer is expected to announce the names of supervisors for Toronto and Hamilton boards later this week.

With a report from Canadian Press