About $744,500 will be slashed from after-school and tutoring programs within the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) due to cuts to an education fund announced by the province last week.

Ontario’s school boards were notified of the funding changes on Dec. 14.

In a news release issued Friday, the TDSB said that the loss of provincial grants will impact seven of their tutoring and after-school programs.

“Every program, we think, has some value. They will be missed,” Robin Pilkey, chair of the TDSB, told CTV News Toronto.

One of the programs being impacted by the funding cuts is the Focus on Youth After School program, which provides employment and leadership opportunities to students. The TDSB said that 75 students in priority neighbourhoods will not be hired as a result of the funding cancellation.

“Neighbourhoods that are underserved, lacking parks and recreation, that type of thing. It gave jobs to students who lived in those neighbourhoods,” Pilkey said.

About 52 university and college students will also not be hired as tutors, the TDSB said.

“There is a lot of uncertainty in the moment about how it’s going to roll out, so we’ll have to wait and see,” Pilkey said.

This is a breakdown of the TDSB programs impacted by the funding cuts:

  • $263,200 for the Focus on Youth After School program, which provides employment and leadership opportunities for youth
  • $137,615 for re-engagement 12-12+, a program that encourages students who have left school to complete their diploma requirements.
  • $109,500 for the Innovation in Learning Fund, which offers professional development courses to administrators.
  • $35,000 for a program called “Tutors in the Classroom,” which hires college and university students.
  • $119,790 for pilots on ensuring equitable access to post-secondary education, which helps students prepare and submit applications.
  • $64,395 for daily physical activity funding for elementary schools.
  • $15,000 for the Indigenous Focused Collaborative Inquiry.

On Monday, the provincial government said that $25 million was slashed from the Ontario budget. The funding cut occurred after the government reviewed the “Education Programs – Other” fund.

Education Minister Lisa Thompson was questioned about the funding cuts in the legislature on Thursday. In response to a question from the opposition about the effect the budgetary cuts will have on the city’s youth, Thompson said that the PC government will continue to support urban schools.

“We are remembering how important it is to keep a safe and effective learning environment in the classroom. We are continuing to support priority urban schools.”

Thompson’s office said she was unavailable for an interview Friday.

With files from CTV News Toronto's Colin D'Mello