Posted on 10/02/2002 10:19:35 AM PDT by Lizavetta
Top administrator says political turmoil may be factor
Where have all the students gone?
That's the question administrators at the country's largest school board are asking in light of an alarming and unexpected drop in enrolment this September. The Toronto Public School Board's top administrator says political turmoil may be a factor in the decline.
The board announced yesterday it was 3,000 students short of its enrolment projections this September — 1,000 fewer at the secondary level and 2,000 less in the elementary grades. As a result, it is taking the unusually disruptive step of transferring 100 teachers out of their classrooms next Monday, five weeks into the school year.
Education Director David Reid said politics and the board's lack of a budget couldn't be discounted in the decline. The board is under the control of provincial supervisor Paul Christie, who isn't expected to announce his budget recommendations until at least the end of the month.
"We're sitting here the first of October and we're kind of adrift. (The budget) is having an impact on our enrolment, it's having an impact on the standard of education we're able to provide," said Reid. He said it was also possible lower immigration numbers since Sept. 11 were a factor.
But he made it clear the board is concerned about students migrating to private schools. Reid said he'll know in about three weeks how many students have left the public system.
Toronto Catholic Board Chair Joseph Carnevale said his board's numbers aren't in yet, but he's also expecting a significant decline beyond the 850 fewer students it projected.
Both boards have attributed some of their decline to the lower housing prices in the suburbs surrounding Toronto.
Carnevale said he would like to sit down and talk to Mayor Mel Lastman about what the city is doing to make sure Toronto has services to offer families, as well as people without children. While he agreed controversial school closings and budget debates have had an impact, he said politics wouldn't account for the sharp enrolment drop.
But a spokesperson for the growing York Region public board said that, while the numbers weren't final, that board wasn't expecting more than the usual 100 transfers out of Toronto schools this year.
None of the 61 elementary and 28 secondary teachers being transferred in the Toronto public board will lose their jobs. Thirty-four will move to other permanent classes in order to cut class sizes in schools that had large enrolments and the other 65 will be reassigned. Most are expected to get another permanent posting.
That was small comfort to Melissa Bulgutch, a teacher at Finch Public School, near Finch Ave. E. and Bayview Ave., who was told yesterday she would be losing her split Grade 1 and Grade 2 class. "I don't know how I'm going to tell my kids," she said. "For a 5-year-old and a 6-year-old — at a time when they need the most consistency in their whole life — the person they see every day is being forced out the door. We have a relationship and it wasn't by accident. It takes time, it takes passion," said Bulgutch.
Cathy Dandy of the Toronto Parent Network said the transfer of teachers is another example of instability in Toronto schools. "The whole system has eroded to the point where curriculum and funding is based on numbers.''
Even as schools were learning they would lose teachers yesterday, some deposed trustees, who have lost their decision-making power under the supervisor, held a news conference at the board offices. They complained that the provincial supervisor and staff were being paid at the expense of students. Christie, his assistant Don McVicar, communications consultant Ross Parry and auditor Al Rosen are costing the board about $500,000 annually, said Trustee Paula Fletcher.
Not looking good for their basketball team.
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