Latest news with #TDSB
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
TDSB passes budget for 2025-2026 with plan to eliminate $34.4M deficit
Trustees for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) have approved a budget for 2025-2026 that includes a plan to balance the board's books over the next two years. The plan includes a number of cost-saving measures to eliminate a $34.4 million deficit, including a pause on issuing new Chromebooks for students in the coming school year in favour of recirculating devices returned by graduating Grade 12 students, a news release from the board said. It also includes a $9.5 million spending cut in operating expenses for central departments of the board that will have "limited impact" on services. Fees will also rise for some continuing education programming, the TDSB said. At a meeting in April, trustees heard the school board was facing a $58-million deficit for 2025-2026, with staff looking at a variety of options to balance the budget. Since then, trustees have passed more than $20 million in cuts, resulting in a current deficit of $34.4 million, a spokesperson for the school board said. One of the cost-cutting options on the table was closing school pools the board doesn't lease out, which would have saved an estimated $12.8 million. However that's not happening after public outcry. Pools and aquatics instructors will continue to be available to students and community members for another year, the TDSB said in a Thursday news release. Board staff are working on privately leasing more pools while also working with the City of Toronto on the use of TDSB pools, the release says. The budget must now be submitted to the Ministry of Education by June 30 for final approval.
CTV News
10 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
The TDSB just passed a budget aimed at slashing its $34.4M deficit. Here is how it might impact your child's school
TDSB Chair Neethan Shan says the province has underfunded public education and speaks about the financial challenges they are facing. TDSB Chair Neethan Shan says the province has underfunded public education and speaks about the financial challenges they are facing. Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustees passed the board's latest budget Wednesday, but were forced to include a number of measures to tighten belts in the wake of provincial scrutiny. The $3.7 billion budget will balance the board's books by eliminating a $34.4 million deficit over the next two years. 'I am pleased that we have increased funding to valuable programs such as special education and music instruction, while maintaining TDSB pools for another year,' TDSB Chair Neethan Shan said in a statement. 'Sadly, Ministry underfunding will mean we will be put in this difficult position again next year. It is my sincere hope that we can work with the Ministry to address the growing funding gaps so that we can maintain critical programming in a fiscally responsible way.' Underpinning the situation is a ministry investigation into the board's finances and a dispute between the board and the province over whether the TDSB – the largest school board in the country – is underfunded by the province, especially when it comes to special education. Education Minister Paul Calandra's office said the ministry has given the TDSB 'multiple opportunities' to address its financial situation. 'The province is asking the board to find savings of less than two per cent, and instead of looking for administrative savings, they have threatened to cut services for students,' a statement from Calandra's office reads. 'The TDSB's historic mismanagement required our government to take immediate action, which is why we have announced a financial investigation to ensure board resources are going to support students.' Here's what the TDSB is doing in order to balance the books this year The board says it is putting a pause on issuing new Chromebooks for students in the 2025-26 schoolyear and will instead recirculate devices returned by graduating Grade 12 students. An 'Attendance Support Program' is expected to reduce costs related to sick-leave Central departments will reduce spending by $9.5 million in operating expenses that the board says have 'limited impact' on services. Fees will be hiked for general interest and other continuing education programming. The board considered closing school pools it doesn't lease out, but held off on the move due to public pressure. While the board found money to keep aquatic programs going for another year, those services could be in jeopardy again at budget time next year unless other savings are found. The budget will now go to the Ministry of Education for final approval by the end of June.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
TDSB passes budget for 2025-2026 with plan to eliminate $34.4M deficit
Trustees for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) have approved a budget for 2025-2026 that includes a plan to balance the board's books over the next two years. The plan includes a number of cost-saving measures to eliminate a $34.4 million deficit, including a pause on issuing new Chromebooks for students in the coming school year in favour of recirculating devices returned by graduating Grade 12 students, a news release from the board said. It also includes a $9.5 million spending cut in operating expenses for central departments of the board that will have "limited impact" on services. Fees will also rise for some continuing education programming, the TDSB said. At a meeting in April, trustees heard the school board was facing a $58-million deficit for 2025-2026, with staff looking at a variety of options to balance the budget. Since then, trustees have passed more than $20 million in cuts, resulting in a current deficit of $34.4 million, a spokesperson for the school board said. One of the cost-cutting options on the table was closing school pools the board doesn't lease out, which would have saved an estimated $12.8 million. However that's not happening after public outcry. Pools and aquatics instructors will continue to be available to students and community members for another year, the TDSB said in a Thursday news release. Board staff are working on privately leasing more pools while also working with the City of Toronto on the use of TDSB pools, the release says. The budget must now be submitted to the Ministry of Education by June 30 for final approval.
CBC
16 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
TDSB passes budget for 2025-2026 with plan to eliminate $34.4M deficit
Trustees for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) have approved a budget for 2025-2026 that includes a plan to balance the board's books over the next two years. The plan includes a number of cost-saving measures to eliminate a $34.4 million deficit, including a pause on issuing new Chromebooks for students in the coming school year in favour of recirculating devices returned by graduating Grade 12 students, a news release from the board said. It also includes a $9.5 million spending cut in operating expenses for central departments of the board that will have "limited impact" on services. Fees will also rise for some continuing education programming, the TDSB said. At a meeting in April, trustees heard the school board was facing a $58-million deficit for 2025-2026, with staff looking at a variety of options to balance the budget. Since then, trustees have passed more than $20 million in cuts, resulting in a current deficit of $34.4 million, a spokesperson for the school board said. One of the cost-cutting options on the table was closing school pools the board doesn't lease out, which would have saved an estimated $12.8 million. However that's not happening after public outcry. Pools and aquatics instructors will continue to be available to students and community members for another year, the TDSB said in a Thursday news release. Board staff are working on privately leasing more pools while also working with the City of Toronto on the use of TDSB pools, the release says. The budget must now be submitted to the Ministry of Education by June 30 for final approval.
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
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.
