Some people may look at the decisions of the TDSB last evening only from the cuts to staff; I have a larger opinion. While some trustees have been heard in the media to play Chicken Little and the ‘sky is falling’ with trustees at each other’s throats, the opposite happened through a civilized discussion without acrymony last evening. And the reason in my mind is that, although everyone agreed that the staffing decisions were difficult and in some cases distasteful, engaged discussion allowed all perspectives to be heard in a variety of forums towards a final decision. This is what I am most proud of – that we have a group of trustees who listen to each, their constituents and others but were not bullied into decisions but understood what others were thinking and made decisions in a reasoned fashion. Congrats to them.

As we draw near to the deadline of the meeting of the trustees at the TDSB we also have had some great opportunities to discuss creative ideas on how to make the budget and the staffing work so that trustees can make good decisions. Tomorrow evening is the time when decisions need to be made to support the contractual needs of our employee groups. If Toronto District School Board wants to be an employer of choice good decisions need to made to make people want to work for the TDSB.

This week is probably one of the biggest decision making times of the present board elected in 2010. The board has been presented with a reduced funding program that has finally, despite the promises from the Ministry of Education, going to cut to the level of affecting the learners in the classrooms. It is not the individual adjustments per se that will affect the classrooms but the composite of the adjustments that have the possibility. The combination of reductions in support staff in the classrooms, the reduction/shifting of folks that support the classrooms in the office staff and the administration, the addition of full day kindergarten in many schools all sound like possible ideas singularly but if not handled carefully and in an orderly fashion over time have the capability to knock the train off the tracks at schools. On top of that the Ministry of Education has dictated a reduction in central staff that affects the organization of local school families and pathways without understanding that all boards operate differently and need local input and implementation plans that meet their needs. We need to adapt implementation of these new ideas remembering our number one responsibility as a Board and as the education system in Ontario is the success of our learners.

Today a majority of trustees met to discuss the impending staff allocations of the TDSB. This is to happen on Wednesday. Many are very distressed by the process and the timelines being so short after the grants are posted. The question is what to do. Pass the staff proposals to balance the budgetting process; leave staffing the reflect the existing direction of programming. Or something in between. Stay tuned for the board meeting Wednesday evening as trustees continue to look for creative solutions. Express your opinions at chris.bolton@tdsb.on.ca.

“Live the life you want to be remembered for.” —Alice Heap

Last week I was asked to go with staff to talk to the Minister of Education and staff. Part of the lesson we were part of was to make clear that TDSB is not doing enough to reduce the unused student spaces in our board. On Friday the Toronto Star did a front page article in the GTA section that used ministry data that was 5 years old and did not include the spaces we have removed from the board’s inventory through sale. If the Ministry is going to complain about process I would ask that at least they keep their data up to date. Both Givins/Shaw and Essex to name two schools are over 60% capacity and will be much higher when they have all day kindergarten — which is not factored into the data at the Ministry website.

This is the time of year when we start thinking of the holidays at the end of the month and school festivities such as concerts, holiday lunches and snow people popping up in school yards. The last day of school is Friday, December 23, 2011 and the return to school date is Monday, January 9, 2012. I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you and your families a happy, healthy and safe holiday and New Year.

Schools in Ward 10, and those across the TDSB, take bullying seriously and work hard to prevent it from happening and to deal effectively with it when it arises. All of our schools have strong anti-bullying and bully prevention programs. With the just released Accepting Schools Act, which if passed, there will be greater support at the provincial level. The Act will require all school boards to take preventative measures against bullying, issue tougher consequences for bullying, and support students who want to promote understanding and respect for all (link). As part of their commitment to bully prevention, the provincial government has also committed to support for the Kids Help Phone for another three years.

The TDSB has begun its budget process (our vote is in June 2012)… there is a significant deficit in our operating budget and we are discussing ways to balance our books. Unlike the City, we cannot raise taxes to pay for programs and services our communities expect. I will keep you posted as the process proceeds.