Alternative high school community concerned over TDSB teaching staff cuts

Maggie Alexander says she wouldn't be where she is now without the teachers at her alternative high school.

But the Toronto District School Board is planning on cutting nine teaching positions in the next school year, and Alexander is scared for her future. 

"I'm worried that if we lose a teacher, I won't be able to make it to university," she said.

Alexander, who's in Grade 11, lives with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is part of the LGBTQ community. 

"I was bullied pretty badly. My teachers didn't quite understand my learning disability. They weren't exactly sure how to teach me. My confidence was extremely low," she said. 

For her, moving to City School at Queens Quay West and Bathurst Street provided a safe haven. 

"After coming to [City School], my confidence started rising," she said. "It was the first time I've actually wanted to learn."

Petition with more than 2,900 signatures

The 22 alternative secondary schools in Toronto offer another option for students who struggle in mainstream education.

Smaller class sizes, non-traditional and individual learning are just a few focuses of alternative schools and many students say they thrive in that environment. 

That's why a group of parents, teachers and students started a petition to stop the cuts, saying their schools are already stretched thin when it comes to resources. As of Wednesday evening, the petition has garnered more than 2,900 signatures. 

One of them is Alexander's mother, patti cross, who does not capitalize her name. 

"Parents want their kids to have the whole array of programming that's available. And that's what Maggie had when she had six teachers at City School," she said. 

Now, the school is down to three full-time and one part-time teacher and come September, that number could be reduced even more. 

"These alternative high schools are considered to be supported and promoted by the TDSB, but they're constantly taking away our teachers," cross said. 

The group also brought a motion to the school board that was put forward at a committee meeting on Wednesday. 

The board heard from several delegates who spoke about the importance of alternative schools, including a number of students who pointed to how these schools have helped with their mental health. 

Sheila Holyer has been teaching at Inglenook Community School for four years and says teachers at alternative schools are equipped to work with students with a variety of learning disabilities, mental illnesses and other barriers to education, and it shows in the progress of their students.  

"It's a 180-degree change in their attitude and in their feeling of self mastery and self-confidence," she said. 

Cuts in line with enrolment numbers, TDSB says

The TDSB says alternative secondary schools have seen a steady decline in enrolment over the years, which is, in part, the reason for the cuts. 

"As schools are funded based on enrolment, when enrolment decreases so too does the allocation of staff," Ryan Bird, spokesperson for the TDSB, said in an emailed statement. 

Bird says the school board has been supplementing staffing allocation to alternative schools, and adds they have already added teachers above and beyond what the enrolment numbers would call for.

The cuts are based on projected figures and Bird says if enrolment is higher than anticipated when the school year starts, the TDSB will reassess the staffing allocation. 

 Alexander says the potential loss of a teacher at her school would be like losing a critical lifeline. 

"I don't think I can manage losing another teacher," she said. 

"If it does happen, then I can only assume the worst — me crashing my education."