High enrolment and large class sizes won’t necessarily mean fewer education assistant and teacher-librarian cuts for public schools in East Scarborough, warns a local trustee.

The number of educational assistants’ job cuts will depend on each school’s population, class size and the number of student enrolment they have every year, Ward 19 trustee Scott Harrison said.

“Schools in East Scarborough are at or over the capacity but it means nothing to the bigger factor,” Harrison said.

The Toronto school board’s budget for 2009-10 has not been finalized yet, so it is uncertain whether or not the educational assistant job cuts will affect the area.

On March 18, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) voted on making 36 teacher-librarian and 150 educational assistant cuts in Toronto public schools due to the board’s $23-million deficit next year.

The TDSB is yet to decide in which schools they will be making the cuts.
Education assistants and teacher-librarians who are on contract will be notified by the board in March or April.