TORONTO, Ont. – Toronto District School Board trustees have cut around $47-million to balance their 2012-2013 operating budget of nearly $2.9-billion.

Special education programs and student services were spared, but the budget includes as many as 32 cafeteria closures, and cuts to continuing education and English as a second language (ESL) programs.

The budget also includes cuts to individual school budgets, reducing the number of professional development days and increasing permit fees to nearly 41 per cent to for outside groups using schools.

Shortly before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, trustees voted to defeat the nearly $2.9-billion budget by a vote of 11-10, before deciding to continue their discussions and then re-vote.

Trustees debated for more than four hours rejecting a number of amendments before finally agreeing on the one to put more money into special education and student support services.

A cost hike in permit fees for outside groups using the schools was one of the first topics debated by trustees. The cost hike was among the recommendations for reducing the budget shortfall.

Trustee Chris Glover moved an amendment to reduce the savings derived from an increase to the permit fees from $2.2-million to $1.2-million offsetting savings found in the operational review in year savings. However, trustees voted against the amendment.

They also defeated an amendment to reduce the savings from permit fees to $500,000. It was eventually agreed upon that permit fees would rise 41 per cent.

“A lot of emotion, a lot of complex discussions. There was a lot of issues people wanted to bring up, but despite maybe a couple of false starts, I think where we ended up was with a balanced budget,” board chair Chris Bolton said.

On Tuesday, the Peel District School Board approved an operating budget of over $1.5-billion and a capital budget of $1.72-million.

In a release, the Peel school board chair said “the province claims it wants the world’s best-educated workforce, but somehow, lost in the translation, is the financial commitment to actually attain that goal.”

Both the TDSB and the Peel school board are experience a serious budget crunch, and have accused Queen’s Park of not providing enough funding for programs and services for schools and students.

TDSB trustee Cathy Dandy called it a “bloodbath” — referring to the around $109-million in cuts the school board must make.

She told the Toronto Star trustees “have not experienced cuts to this degree since Mike Harris was in power” about a decade ago.

“It’s going to be hard in all the boards where these cuts are going to be happening, and it’s going to mean, come next year or the year after, that kids and parents are going to be start feeling the impact of these cuts,” said Annie Kidder, executive director of the advocacy group People for Education.

Ontario Education Minister Laurel Broten has argued that the McGuinty government has actually provided increased funding to boards since taking office — going up 34 per cent in Toronto in the past eight years.