40 vice-principals won’t return to TDSB next school year

Forty vice-principals won’t be working in Toronto District School Board (TDSB) schools next year, with some full-time staff set to oversee two smaller schools, according to the board.

The TDSB confirmed to CP24 on Wednesday that 28 roles introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic are being cut as provincial funding expired.

There will also be 12 positions that will be eliminated due to a decline in enrolment, with roughly 5,000 fewer students expected in the new academic year.

The TDSB did not disclose which schools exactly will be impacted, citing “fluctuating” staffing adjustments ahead of the 2026-27 school year.

“Every spring, the TDSB goes through a process to determine how staff are placed in schools for the upcoming year,” Ryan Bird of the TDSB said in an email. “This planning helps ensure that every school has the staff required to support the needs of students.”

Alongside job cuts, the board says smaller schools are moving toward a shared model, where full-time vice-principals will be responsible for two schools.

Bird says that model has “successfully been implemented” at other school boards.

Based on a 2023 report from the Toronto School Administrators’ Association (TSAA), which represents the interests of roughly 1,000 principals and vice-principals, the role of vice-principal (and principal) has become “increasingly demanding, stressful and unmanageable.”

Out of the 548 responding members, the TSAA’s survey noted that roughly 61 per cent said they could not “realistically lead” their schools due to their workloads at that time, three years ago.

“In some cases, combined Vice Principal teaching positions may still be required,” Bird said. “It’s important to note that the vast majority — if not all — of these changes will be attained through attrition.”

The TDSB is one of eight school boards across the province that are currently under provincial supervision.

Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra seized control of the boards over allegations of financial mismanagement, infighting and wasteful spending.