TDSB discusses how to deal with projected deficit of up to $34M

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) discussed how to handle a projected deficit that could be as high as $34 million at a special board meeting Tuesday night.

In order to present a balanced budget, the TDSB has suggested cutting programs, including eliminating seniors’ daytime programs while making International Language-African Heritage Programs and Adult Day Schools available on fewer sites.

The elimination of weekend Grade 6 Outdoor Education school trips would be accompanied by an increase in user fees for visits to the Outdoor Education Day Centres.

The report says adopting these measures, and several others, would result in $23.4 million in savings and leave the board with an almost $3 million surplus.

Chernos Lin said these are just suggestions at this point.

“There are no decisions being made tonight and trustees may come up with other ideas. These are just suggestions [from] staff … They’re also suggesting some challenging pieces in order for us to get to zero and that’s pretty hard to stomach when we know that there are other places where the government isn’t fully spending,” said Lin.

The report to the Finance, Budget and Enrolment Committee said the number could drop to $21 million, but only if the TDSB receives permission from the Ministry of Education to use almost $16 million of proceeds generated by the sale of surplus property.

School boards are required to operate on a balanced budget to comply with Ontario’s Education Act.

The committee points to underfunding of statutory benefits, replacement costs for sick leave and the inability to close underutilized schools as some of the reasons for the board’s deficit.

“The challenge there is that there are many places where we are required to top up funding, places where the province doesn’t fully fund, that we are required to pay more than we have no control over,” said TDSB trustee Rachel Chernos Lin.

She added they have been asking for a moratorium on school closures to be lifted for several years in order to close those underutilized schools.

“We’ve been asking for many years now for the province to lift the moratorium on school closures so that we can consolidate a few schools. Keeping those schools open [when they are] underutilized comes with a cost. It works out to be about $500,000 per school. So if we could do six of those, that would be about $3.5 million automatically,” added Lin.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce commented on the TDSB’s deficit at Queen’s Park prior to the meeting.

“We support the board where we can but it is my expectation for TDSB and for every board to be able to do what is required by law, which is balance budgets with more funding and fewer kids,” Lecce said.

In a statement to CityNews, the Ministry of Education said the TDSB has run large annual deficits on many occasions over the last 20 years.

“We continue to expect TDSB to get back to basics in the classroom and balance the budget, as nearly every other school board has managed to do in this province,” read the statement.

The ministry added they have increased their funding to the TDSB by $128 million despite fewer students in the system over the last five years.

Following Tuesday’s meeting, the public will have a chance to have their say about the proposed cuts at a meeting on March 26. The final operating budget will be discussed at a special board meeting on April 2.

With files from John Marchesan