TDSB trustees raise concerns about nudity at Pride parade, pass budget

Public school board trustees are set to debate a motion that raises concerns about children being exposed to public nudity at Toronto’s Pride parade.

The motion authored by three Toronto District School Board trustees – Sam Sotiropoulos, Irene Atkinson and John Hastings – encourages the city to enforce a public nudity ban at the annual parade to make it an age appropriate event for students and their families.

Atkinson has since withdrawn her support for the motion, citing public pressure.

“We just wish to have the mayor and city council clarify whether or not the laws of Canada, as they pertain to public nudity, will be applied and enforced at an event at which we participate in and promote,” Sotiropoulos said Wednesday night.

The TDSB has a float in the parade, which attracts a massive crowd and caps Pride Week festivities every summer.

Nude or scantily-clad revellers are a common sight along the downtown parade route.

This year, Toronto is the host of World Pride, which is replacing the city’s usual 10-day festival.

Operating budget passed

Toronto District School Board trustees have voted unanimously to pass a new $3 billion operating budget for the 2014-2015 school year.

Highlights of the budget include the elimination of 165 high school teacher positions through attrition, the addition of 201 elementary teaching positions, more than 340 new early childhood educators and adding 374 lunchroom supervisor positions.

Staff salaries and benefits represent approximately 83 per cent of total expenditures, the board said.

“The budget process has not only been a departure from past and standard practice, but also heralds a new way of fulfilling our fiscal responsibility at the TDSB,” chair Chris Bolton said in a release issued late Wednesday evening.

“Passing the 2014-15 budget is the first step in developing a three-year balanced budget strategy that will ensure that every decision we make, and every dollar we spend, is seen in the classroom,” TDSB Director Donna Quan said in the release.