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Recovering Pandemic Costs
The Chair of the Board and the Director of Education have written to the Minister of Education and the provincial government to request that pandemic-related costs incurred by the TDSB are repaid to the Board, so that we can continue to deliver the programs and services that students require for academic success, safety and well-being.

The TDSB incurred approximately $70.1 million in pandemic-related costs that were not covered by the Ministry of Education. The Board was required to use its own resources of approximately $55.1 million to cover additional staffing costs and $15 million for other COVID-19 related expenditures.

The impacts of the pandemic are not over and the TDSB still needs to provide additional transition supports. $31.5 million of pandemic funding, which is being ended by the Province, allowed the TDSB to put an additional 485 staff resources into the system. This included teachers, social workers, child and youth workers, caretaking and vice-principals, among other categories.

An additional budget pressure that the TDSB currently faces relates to employee benefit (LTD, WSIB, CPP, EI) and sick leave cost increases that are not funded by the Ministry. For 2023-24, TDSB employee benefits and sick leave costs are projected to be underfunded by $48.6 million. Therefore, we requested that the Ministry commit to funding the actual costs of employee benefits and sick leave for all Ontario school boards.

To review the full letter, please click here.

2023-24 Budget & Staff Allocation

The 2023-24 Budget Process is currently underway. Every year, this process begins with staff allocation, which is guided by a number of factors, including student enrolment, collective agreements, class sizes caps and averages, and the TDSB’s commitment to equity, student achievement and well-being. This year, a number of additional factors, including the elimination of Ministry funding provided during the COVID-19 pandemic, have impacted our budget and staff allocation. The Board continues to advocate to the Ministry of Education to provide adequate and sustainable funding to support student achievement and well-being. To find out more, please click here.

Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) Renewal

The Toronto District School Board is beginning the process to renew its Multi-Year Strategic Plan and we invite the entire TDSB community to get involved and Have Your Say! The renewal process will build on the foundation of our current MYSP and throughout the next several months there will be a variety of opportunities to share your thoughts and ideas. Please visit www.tdsb.on.ca/MYSPrenewal to learn more and for ongoing updates.

Director’s Leadership Report
At the last Board meeting, Director of Education Colleen Russell-Rawlins shared her monthly Leadership Report where she highlighted International Women’s Day at the TDSB, the Envision Conference, and the Board’s ongoing work in Early Literacy.

Caste Oppression

Trustees are taking the first steps in addressing caste-based oppression in Toronto schools. Caste-based oppression is experienced by various faith communities in South Asia, the Caribbean and parts of Africa and East Asia and there have been documented cases here in Toronto. To help address this, Trustees are requesting that the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) assess and provide a framework for addressing caste oppression in a public education context and have asked staff to report back with more information when the OHRC has provided feedback.

Board Meeting

The following items were approved or received by the Board of Trustees at the Regular Board Meeting on March 8, 2023:

Approval of the Annual Review of the Occupational Health and Safety Policy (P048)
Approval of the Annual Review of the Workplace Violence Prevention Policy (P072)
Approval of revisions of the Accessibility Policy: Policy Review, Phase 5 (P069)
Approval of revision of the Delegation Procedure (PR718)
Approval of the new Sexual Misconduct Policy: Phase 5
Approval of the Math Strategy Update
Approval of the Board’s Update of the Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Strategy
Appointment of Trustee Dennis Hastings to serve as a member of the Equity Policy Community Advisory Committee for the term ending November 14, 2023

For more information, including a full list of Board Decisions, please read the Summary of Decisions.

Upcoming Meetings

The next regular Board Meeting is on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. For a list of upcoming meetings, please click on the calendar on the main webpage of www.tdsb.on.ca.

Follow the TDSB

Join the conversations happening on TDSB's social media communities. You'll find the most up-to-date information about us on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.

TDSB Trustees

Dennis Hastings
Ward 1 - Etobicoke North
Dennis.Hastings@tdsb.on.ca

Dan MacLean
Ward 2 - Etobicoke Centre
Daniel.MacLean@tdsb.on.ca

Patrick Nunziata
Ward 3 - Etobicoke-Lakeshore
Patrick.Nunziata@tdsb.on.ca

Matias de Dovitiis
Ward 4 - Humber River - Black Creek
Matias.deDovitiis@tdsb.on.ca

Alexandra Lulka
Ward 5 - York Centre
Alexandra.Lulka@tdsb.on.ca

Liban Hassan
Ward 6 - York South-Weston
Liban.Hassan@tdsb.on.ca

Debbie King
Ward 7 - Parkdale-High Park
Debbie.King@tdsb.on.ca

Shelley Laskin
Ward 8 - Eglinton - Lawrence and Toronto-St. Paul's
Shelley.Laskin@tdsb.on.ca

Alexis Dawson
Ward 9 - Davenport and Spadina - Fort York
Alexis.Dawson@tdsb.on.ca

Deborah Williams
Ward 10 - University - Rosedale and Toronto Centre
Deborah.Williams@tdsb.on.ca

Rachel Chernos Lin
Ward 11 - Don Valley West
Rachel.ChernosLin@tdsb.on.ca

Weidong Pei
Ward 12 - Willowdale
Weidong.Pei@tdsb.on.ca

James Li
Ward 13 - Don Valley North
James.Li@tdsb.on.ca

Farzana Rajwani
Ward 14 - Don Valley East
Farzana.Rajwani@tdsb.on.ca

Sara Ehrhardt
Ward 15 - Toronto-Danforth
Sara.Ehrhardt@tdsb.on.ca

Michelle Aarts
Ward 16 - Beaches-East York
Michelle.Aarts@tdsb.on.ca

Neethan Shan
Ward 17 - Scarborough Centre
Neethan.Shan@tdsb.on.ca

Malika Ghous
Ward 18 - Scarborough Southwest
Malika.Ghous@tdsb.on.ca

Zakir Patel
Ward 19 - Scarborough - Guildwood
Zakir.Patel@tdsb.on.ca

Manna Wong
Ward 20 - Scarborough-Agincourt
Manna.Wong@tdsb.on.ca

Yalini Rajakulasingam
Ward 21 - Scarborough North
Yalini.Rajakulasingam@tdsb.on.ca

Anu Sriskandarajah
Ward 22 - Scarborough - Rouge Park
Anu.Sriskandarajah@tdsb.on.ca

Jeffrey Osaro
Student Trustee
Jeffrey.Osaro@tdsb.on.ca

Naomi Musa
Student Trustee
Naomi.Musa@tdsb.on.ca