Students rally after Grade 9 enrolment at high school for special needs students halted
Scores of students at a Toronto high school that serves those with special needs walked out of classes on Monday to protest a school board decision to halt Grade 9 enrolment for the next school year.
Heydon Park Secondary School is described on its website as the "only small student-centred public high school for young women, transgender and non-binary students" at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB).
At the walkout outside the school, located in the downtown core, students waved placards and chanted slogans, including: "Save our school!"
Students said on Monday that the school offers a special place for girls and means everything to them. The TDSB, however, has decided that it will no longer accept admissions for Grade 9 for the 2025-2026 school year due to low enrolment.
Jessica Rotolo, a graduate of the school, said she came to the walkout to call on the school board to reinstate Grade 9 enrolment. Rotolo said she has Down syndrome.
"This particular school helped me become the person I am today. All the teachers were really accepting for who I am. All the students were accepting, except for a couple," she said. "I hope we will keep Heydon Park alive."
Dorlean Rotolo, her mother, said the family came to the school's open house when her daughter was in Grade 6 and it was the only high school in which they were interested.
"This high school offered Jessica a true high school experience," she said. "The care that they get from the teachers is beyond remarkable. This school is 101 years old. It works. It should be cloned."
Rotolo said the TDSB cancelled the school's Grade 8 open house and said few know about the school because it hasn't been promoted. She questioned who at the TDSB made the decision and wondered if the person actually went to the school to see "magic" that happens there.
"It's heartbreaking," she added.
Phoebe Ross, a Grade 10 student at the school, said she has a bit of learning disability and the school has made a difference in her life.
"I don't want the school to close. It's a school where people with disabilities and needs ... come here to get help and to learn," Ross said. "The school helps me learn. And I love this school."
Only 9 students applied to Grade 9 this fall, TDSB says
The TDSB said in a statement on Friday that enrolment at the school has been dropping. It said only nine students applied for the Grade 9 program for the 2025–26 school year, and it made a decision to halt enrolment to ensure students had access to a "viable" program.
"Enrolment at Heydon Park Secondary School has declined over the years, largely due to the fact that our neighbourhood schools are getting better and better at inclusionary practices and supporting a wider range of student needs," the TDSB said in the statement.
"Central board staff have been carefully monitoring Grade 9 enrolment at Heydon Park, and due to limited enrolment in the Grade 9 program for the 2025–26 school year, the decision has been made to redirect incoming Grade 9 students to alternate school sites."
Several parents told CBC Toronto that their children wouldn't have thrived in a regular school, but they could at Heydon Park.
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