TDSB's adult classes at risk amid $27.6M deficit

As the Toronto District School Boards gears up to make significant cuts, students and teachers are trying to save the TDSB's adult learning programs

Back in 2013, the program offered Azadeh Zereshkian an affordable way to stay active and connect with her husband, following the birth of her first child.

That's when the couple signed up for ballroom dancing classes with the TDSB's Learn4Life Adult General Interest Courses program. 

"Many young families, they need to have a couple of hours of break from the craziness of life," Zereshkian told CBC Toronto, saying she didn't want to be doing "dinner and movie dates all the time."

The North York couple, now parents of two children, have continued to take the classes. They said ballroom dancing has become a major part of their lives, which is why they were surprised to hear the school board was considering cutting the program. 

"We both were shocked," Zereshkian said. "We didn't know that these programs were in trouble."

On April 4, the TDSB board will consider an internal report that's meant to help the school board decide where to make cuts, as it faces a $27.6 million deficit in its 2024-2025 budget.

Because the continuing education program currently operates at a $9.6 million deficit, the board's report recommends a restructuring that would see both Learn4Life and the Seniors' Daytime Program eliminated. 

Last week, Zereshkian's husband, Ehsan Foroughi, started an online petition aiming to raise awareness about the potential cuts.

"We did not receive any communication from the board that this is even being considered," he told CBC Toronto.

"Many students still don't know that this is being considered," said Foroughi. "This program is very big, right? Hundreds of teachers, thousands of students."

At a public meeting on the evening of March 26, the school board listened to numerous delegations from the public.

The meeting ran five hours long and continued for another hour the following day, as continuing education students and teachers lauded the program's benefits, benefits like affordability and the sense of community the programming affords vulnerable members of society. 

Erin McLaughlin, a jewelry-making student, told CBC Toronto she signed up for classes when she first moved to the city from Montreal in 2022 and found making new friends difficult.