TORONTO – The Toronto District School Board voted in favour of cutting nearly 250 secondary school teacher positions to combat its $55-million deficit at its Wednesday meeting.
Declining enrollment numbers are forcing the board — the largest in Canada — to scrap the secondary school teacher positions, the board said.
Eight vice-principal jobs will be eliminated.
Special education teachers and guidance staff, including librarians, are also among the groups being axed.
But the board will add nearly 63 elementary teacher positions and 338 early childhood educations.
The board said the cuts at the secondary school level and increases at the elementary school level “reflect the shifting demographics and enrollment at the TDSB.”
“Though staffing decisions are always difficult, this is an important step in putting the board on solid financial footing so that we can continue offering students the best school experiences,” said Chair Chris Bolton in a statement.
“We’re projecting about a $55-million deficit and we do need to have a balanced budget,” TDSB spokesperson Shari Schwartz-Maltz said earlier Wednesday.
“Any cuts are difficult but again, you only have so much money,” she said.
“You need to be creative with the money that you have and put it where it’s needed.”
The job cuts will save the board $27 million.
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It is the mismanagement of the funds that has led to the budget issues. It is time to contract out the maintenance work. Time to reduce the number of school board trustees. Time to close schools where they have less than 50% utilization of the school.
WHAT A JOKE. Especially if this current solution STILL leaves a $28 million dollar deficit.
You have 10,000 elementary school teachers and 5,800 secondary school teachers in the TDSB.
Some quick math, although administrators should be dealt the same cards as the teachers from the head of the TDSB on down.
Assumed average salary: $50,000 / year
Pay cut: 10% across the board
Savings: 10% x $50,000 x 15,800 = $79,000,00
Everyone keeps their job and the TDSB starts biting away at its debt.
Now fix FDK and assist communities in keeping their kids in local schools.
soswanless.com is a community in need of support – please sign the petition.
Sorry, Corby, but it makes absolutely no sense to keep kids in underutilized schools simply to keep them in their own neighborhoods. If you have a school build for two thousand students and there are barely a hundred there now, it’s time to consider closing the school and moving the students elsewhere.
When enrollment doesn’t support the current number of teachers, it’s time to downsize. Teachers need to learn that they are not indispensable.
Running a school board like a business is exactly the wrong approach. Not spending more than you have doesn’t mean running it like a business. The TDSB employs far too many people who aren’t in a classroom or even a school. Why isn’t an equivalent number of those positions being considered for elimination?
Running it like a business is the correct approach. Imagine this, teachers being held accountable for the pass rates of their students. Imagine teachers being paid on merit performance rather than seniority. Seniority does not equal competency. Now, with regards to how $$ are spent. Any service that is required to run a school should be delivered in the most cost efficient way and that should not be negotiable.
It’s poor management of funds over the past few, or more years, by the TDSB that has resulted in a $55 million debt for this year!
about time! That’s the only way they will understand that they don’t deserve a job at any cost!
I hate to see anyone lose their job but government bodies have to start handling affairs as if they were a business. You don’t keep a dwindling business afloat just to employ people, same logic goes for government run business.