April Update – Trustee Sara
Friends, I hope this message finds everyone well.
Thank you to everyone who attended the in-person drop-in I held last month and to everyone who has written about education funding. We are awaiting the fine print of the provincial education budget for next year, unfortunately however the signs are that the funding will not even be enough to cover inflationary increases. I shared my views on the provincial budget with Beach Metro here.
TDSB will need to continue to have difficult discussions to address the projected deficit brought on by this provincial underfunding.
At a special meeting held April 4 the board approved $5 million in cuts to central operations next year. This will mean cuts to ‘centrally-assigned’ teachers and other important staff that ultimately support schools. I do not support this cut and I am sorry for all those who will be personally affected by this decision. I am however relieved that the board decided to consult further on any changes to adult programs/Learn4Life, international languages, and outdoor education. The board also requested that a fee be explored for the Chromebooks currently provided at no cost to students in Grades 5 and 9. You can find further information on this meeting and the decisions that took place here.
I was pleased to hear that the federal government will finally be putting funding toward building a national school food program. I want to thank the many people in our community who have been advocating for this, over decades. During a recent presentation from Toronto Foundation for Student Success (TFSS) www.tfss.ca, trustees learned that more than ¾ of the funding for school food programs are funded by donations. With this is mind, it will remain incredibly important for our community to continue to directly support school food programs and continue in our advocacy while our provincial and federal governments quibble over rollout of any new funding – the need is simply too great.
Next week I will be joining other representatives in our area for discussions on child care, and also continued Ontario Line impacts – more information below and I hope you will join us for these events.
Take care,
Sara Ehrhardt
TDSB Trustee, Toronto-Danforth
