$7m further cut at TDSB

The TDSB will be trimming another $7-million from its budget, on top of making $16.5-million in cuts to balance its budget.  Roughly 260 jobs had been eliminated, including about 50 special-education positions. But to achieve the new savings, the board will also not be filling some jobs that come open mid-year, says trustee Robin Pilkey.

When the board passed the budget in mid-March, with its job cuts, it hadn’t yet heard what allocation it would get from the province. Those numbers came in last week, and after analyzing them, the TDSB says it will have to make up another $7-million.

The board doesn’t anticipate having to reopen its budget process, but will rather find the savings during the school year, said spokesman Ryan Bird.

It’s too early to know what kind of jobs would be left unfilled to save money, said Ms. Pilkey.

The number is manageable in the context of the board’s $3-billion budget, she said, and trustees were “pleased” that financial staff had estimated the provincial budget so accurately.

“We were very close if you think of the whole size of the whole budget,” she said.

SELENA ROSS. THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Published Sunday, Apr. 05 2015, 10:06 PM