Dear Parents and Guardians;

Many of us don’t really know exactly what goes on at a school during the day. 

We know our kids are in class and that teachers are teaching. We know our kids 

are learning and socialising, they are every day becoming more aware of the world around us. 

A teacher does not have an easy job. They need to plan ahead, be ready to teach in a 

way that large numbers of students can understand (keep in mind there are many different 

learning styles), and at the end of the day they have all the same concerns that the rest of us 

do. These adults have the world on their shoulders right now and while many of us may work 

in difficult atmospheres, kids are not relying on us all day in that work space. 

At our first parent council meeting I hope that we can take some time to discuss what the 

Ministry of Education has caused the TDSB to do in regards to cutbacks that affect our 

school directly. 

One major issue that I can personally speak of because I have seen it with my own eyes, 

has been the closure of classrooms due to a cutback in custodian hours. We have a 

computer lab that was completely refurbished this summer along with our library. Teachers 

had this lab available to take classes into when needed and suddenly a decision was made 

just a couple of weeks ago that this room has to be closed to staff and students. This decision was made
at the TDSB and while staff in the school tried to find alternatives, the final decision was out of the hands of
school admin and staff. School admin are now in the process of having to dismantle the equipment and spread
the computers across many classrooms. 

Another room that was slated for closure at first was the classroom of a permanent full time 

teacher who teaches french to many of our kids. She spent so much time and energy preparing this new room
in the summer for our kids to get the best learning experiences that they could have. 

While admin fought for her, the TDSB was adamant that this classroom would need to be closed and that she
would have to share another teacher’s classroom, or if that didn’t work, perhaps use part of the
Nutrition Program Kitchen! Some time later her classroom was saved …. or so we thought. 

A few days later she lost her classroom again and this time there is no going back. The TDSB looked at the
current school population and have started to restructure classes; this teacher has had to move in with another
teacher after all. This is just a small example of what is going on below the surface but you know what; our kids are
getting so much from the teaching staff at Bloordale! These amazing people are able to put on a brave face for our
kids! It is time that parents take the time and learn how we all can help make our teachers and school staff have a
workplace where they know that they have this much larger community that is willing to support them when
times get tough, and as we all know that time is now.

So to all of our Bloordale Parents and Guardians I hope to see many of you on Thursday evening,
you will learn a lot more and we can discuss how we; as parents and guardians, as community members,
as voters, can make a difference!