The Toronto District School Board is expected to temporarily pause potential cuts to seniors programs, adult day schools and outdoor education as it grapples with an almost $28-million deficit in its 2024-2025 budget.
An internal report had called for the elimination of Seniors’ Daytime programs and Grade 6 weekend trips to Scarborough Outdoor Education Centre, consolidation of International Language-African Heritage Programs, an overhaul of Adult Day Schools, and increasing permit fees for community groups using TDSB facilities.
School boards across the province are required to operate on a balanced budget to comply with Ontario’s Education Act.
A meeting of the Finance, Budget and Enrolment Committee on Tuesday determined that while material reductions to programming have been recommended by staff in order to reduce the deficit, the TDSB will be asked to delay the cancellation of the senior’s courses until an in-depth report on the impact to the community is conducted. Similar delays are being proposed to the other changes that had been recommended.
Among the options the Board is being asked to consider when it comes to the future of these programs is exploring operating agreements with provincial and city officials.
The Board is expected to go ahead with a recommendation that calls for a decrease in central staffing, a reduction in replacement costs related to sick leave, and decreased spending on absenteeism, filling vacancies and contracts.
The TDSB is also going to ask the Ministry of Education to remove its moratorium on school closures which has been in effect since 2017. Failing that, the Board is requesting that the Ministry allow the TDSB a special exemption which would allow it to consolidate up to four schools per year until the moratorium is lifted provincewide.