During a special meeting on Thursday, we appointed Fowzia Mahamed as the new Trustee for Ward 2 (Etobicoke Centre) and Alexis Dawson as the new Trustee for Ward 9 (Davenport). Ms. Mahamed and Ms. Dawson were the successful candidates following an open application process that was launched after the election of Marit Stiles and Chris Glover to the provincial legislature in June. I was pleased to be part of this interview process and look forward to working with and supporting my new colleagues. To read the media release, please click here.

In April 2017, as part of Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan, the Ministry of Education launched the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and during the grant announcements in the Spring, announced that this program would continue for the 2018-19 school year with another $100 million made available to school boards for expenses incurred between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019. The full amount  the TDSB was to receive was $25M. The additional grant as well as increasing funding for school repairs over the last few years has allowed the TDSB to move beyond just fixing emergency issues in our schools and begin chipping away at the large repair backlog. As you know, the TDSB faces a $4.05 billion repair backlog as a result of years of inadequate funding. Without consistent funding in the years ahead, the TDSB’s school repairs backlog could grow to an estimated $5.0 billion by 2021. 

On July 3rd, the new Government of Ontario announced they would wind-down all programs funded out of cap and trade carbon tax revenues. In the TDSB, the majority of the projects funded through the GGRF were window replacements, lighting retrofits, hot water tank replacements, air handling unit replacements, etc. Some were completed and/or already in progress. Staff now will need to review the projects to determine which of them are critical and a higher priority than other work to move forward using existing School Condition Improvement (SCI) funding or Renewal funding. For the 2018-19, SCI funding allocation for TDSB is $227.1M and Renewal funding allocation is estimated to be approximately $47M. 

We have consistently advocated, it is imperative that the province commit to providing predictable and sustainable funding for school repairs so that the TDSB can continue implementing our long-term plan for renewal, lower our repair backlog and modernize our schools.

In addition, as we continue our legal challenge regarding access to Education Development Charges (EDCs) we are hoping the current government will continue the previous governmen's commitment to look into an Urbanization Strategy. The importance of adequately funding school facilities cannot be overstated.

On August 14, 2018, Bill 5 passed and received Royal Assent. In addition to confirming 25 Toronto wards, it extends the nomination period for councillor and school board trustee nominations until September 14.. 

The boundaries on the map below define the 22 wards where TDSB trustees will be elected to represent public school taxpayers that reside in those areas. The upcoming municipal election on October 22 will determine the trustees for those new wards. The new boundaries come into effect when the newly elected board takes office in December 2018. Please note the changes in election boundaries are administrative only and do not affect where students attend school or access school programs. With Bill 5, the current Ward 11 becomes part of the new Ward 8 and will include the ridings of Eglinton-Lawrence and Toronto-St Paul's. To learn more about the TDSB ward electoral boundary changes and which schools will be in the new wards, click here. If you are interested in my plans, click here.

Given serious questions and concerns about the lack of public consultation and the City Clerk’s capacity to implement the changes in time for the election, Trustees also passed a motion to support the City of Toronto’s consideration of legal action. Council is expected to make a decision on whether to proceed with legal action at a meeting tomorrow, August 20. Click here for the City's information. 

In order to enlarge the map, click here.

All our schools have TDSB websites - the Ward 11 schools can all be found here. Many also have schools have websites and happy to say all are on Twitter as is the @TDSB and me @shelleylaskin. If you subscribe to twitter, you may want to follow your school - their address is below. Many also have Instagram, Facebook and/or e-newsletters - please ensure your school has your correct e-mail and address to sign-up for this important communication.