TDSB approves the Long-Term Program and Accommodation Strategy (LTPAS) for 2020-2029

BY PAUL JUNOR

As 2020 comes to an end, and 2021 is ahead, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) looks ahead.

The past ten years have been interesting. The appointment of Chris Spence, as the first African-Canadian Director of Education in 2019 triggered lots of hope. He launched the “Vision of Hope” as a mission statement. In 2013, he abruptly resigned when allegations of plagiarism arose. Donna Quan, was appointed Acting Director in 2013 but left soon after.

This led to the appointment of Dr John Malloy, who came from the Ministry of Education in 2015 and announced his retirement in June, 2020 . Dr Molly was directly involved in the development of the Board’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP). Carlene Jackson, as the first female African-Canadian Interim Director in TDSB’s history, replaced him. She took over on July 15th, 2020 and left on October 15th, 2020 to become Ontario’s first ever Comptroller General.

Subsequently, Dr Kathy Witherow, was appointed Interim Director of Education in November, but she indicated in December that she would be retiring. This prompted the TDSB’s trustees to appoint Karen Falconer and Andrew Gold as Interim Acting Directors.

In news releases on November 23rd, 2020, TDSB revealed that its Trustees had approved the Board’s Long-Term Program and Accommodation Strategy (LTPAS) for 2020-2029. It is in alignment with the MYSP and it, “outlines program and student accommodations studies to be conducted over the next ten years, allows the TDSB to develop plans to balance enrollment and increase programs and opportunities for all students.” In addition, Trustees approved the final report of the Secondary Program Review, which is in alignment with the LTPAS. It “laid the groundwork for creating a system of strong neighbourhood secondary schools that provide rich programming and increased access to courses that support all pathways.”

There are challenges that the TDSB currently face. The first has to do with capital priority projects. Grants and revenues obtained from the sale of properties are used to find new projects.

However, “since the opportunity to submit capital grant applications is at the discretion of the government and very few TDSB projects are approved, many projects cannot move forward.”

There were significant challenges that Toronto District School Board faced with the adoption of Virtual School in respect to hiring qualified teachers. It was delayed until September 22nd, 2020.

In addition, many boards are able to collect Education Development Charges (EDCs), but the TDSB does not qualify and is not able to. The TDSB is currently in discussion with the provincial government with respect to EDCs. It had launched legal actions, “challenging the EDCs regulation (Ontario Reg 20/98), which does not permit it to collect these critical funds.”

According to Alexander Brown,Chair of the TDSB,”while this long-term plan looks at program and accommodation reviews, as well as capital priority projects, it’s about students and making sure that we’re supporting them through access to programs.” Dr Kathy Wilterow notes, “whether it is challenging demographics or enrollment fluctuations, the TDSB’s TTPAS looks at a number of different factors that are critical in planning for the future. At its core is ensuring that all students have equitable access to great programming wherever they may live.”

The TDSB has acknowledged that systemic racism; especially anti-black racism exists and has taken steps to address it. It’s MYSP’s states, “we will effectively integrate the voices, choices, abilities, and experiences of our students into our school programming and be more responsive to the: strengths, interests, gifts, and lived realities of our students as we create and design our schools and classrooms.”