TDSB considers closing nearly half of its pools to curtail $58M budget deficit

CBC

30-04-2025

Some pools, music instructors, outdoor activities and tech equipment could soon be on the chopping block at the Toronto District School Board, as the TDSB looks to dig itself out of a financial hole.
The board is facing a projected $58-million budget deficit this year, and a report going before its budget committee Wednesday afternoon outlines how it could make up the shortfall.
One of the recommended cuts that's perhaps caught the most attention so far impacts pool programming. The TDSB is looking to lay off 86 aquatic instructors and close the pools that it doesn't lease out.
The school board leases 27 of its 66 pools to the city and two more are leased privately for after school programming, meaning nearly half of its pools could shut down in a move the board report says could save $12.8 million.
Shuttering the pools would not only impact students using them, says Coun. Josh Matlow, who started a petition against the cuts, along with TDSB trustee Shelley Laskin.
"Losing these pools will also have an impact on the rest of our community because many people, including seniors and many others, rely on these pools," he said.
In a statement, TDSB chair Neethan Shan said, "it's important to note that no final decisions have been made," and it will be up to school trustees to make the final call as part of their budget process.
"Community consultations are integral for Trustees as we examine the many paths to balance the budget this year," Shan said.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) is facing its own $65.9-million deficit. In a statement, TCDSB chair Markus de Domenico said the board identified more than $80 million in savings in the last three years and $10 million more this year.
He said the board is waiting on a report from the consulting firm Deloitte LLP, who it's working with to find ways to cut costs.
'Cuts hurt kids, it's not negotiable'
Kate Dupuis, whose two kids go to TDSB schools, says the province should properly fund education rather than make school boards look for ways to cut costs, especially for things that keep kids active. She also ran to be an NDP MPP in the past provincial election.
"I want trained, well-paid education workers in that pool with them to make sure kids are getting the best quality education they can," she said.
"Cuts hurt kids, it's not negotiable."
The board is also considering getting rid of its 74 itinerant music instructors (IMI), who teach specialized music skills that go above what's already required.
TDSB is the only board in the province with IMIs, who are not Ontario certified teachers. Cutting them would save the board $5 million since they're not funded by the province, the report says.
The board is also looking to save costs by maximizing its class sizes, which it said are smaller than required and could spare it dozens of teachers.
It's also recommend letting students use Chromebooks starting in Grade 7 rather than Grade 5, along with providing outdoor education on a "cost recovery basis," which could mean possibly shuttering outdoor education centres that it can't maintain.
School boards say deficits not entirely in their control
The effort to cut costs comes as the provincial government investigates how efficiently school boards are using their funding and threatening to take over those who fail to balance their budgets.
The financial probes come after trustees with the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board spent $190,000 in taxpayer money for a trip to Italy that included deluxe hotel rooms and a limo ride — all meant to buy art for schools.
Thames Valley District School Board also came under scrutiny from the ministry after spending about $40,000 at a staff retreat to Toronto — while the board faced a $7.6-million budget deficit.
TDSB and TCDSB, however, attribute much of their deficits to things that are not within their control, like statutory benefits.
The TDSB said it doesn't have enough funding to cover salaries for teachers and early childhood educators, and that grant revenue hasn't kept up with inflation. That's while its Catholic counterpart cited things like unfunded sick leave costs and having to keep underutilized schools open because of the provincial moratorium on school closures.
The TDSB already pitched the province on a plan to save money in the fall that would have brought its deficit down to $11 million, but the province recently rejected that plan and said it would appoint a financial investigator to help the board save money.
The government has given the TDSB board "multiple opportunities … to address its financial situation," Education Minister Paul Calandra's press secretary, Emma Testani, said in a statement to CBC Toronto.
"To date, the board has not produced a trustee-approved financial recovery plan to respond to concerns that identify strategies to eliminate their deficits," she said.