The Toronto District School Board says it may have to start closing its 78 operational swimming pools at city schools this summer if it doesn't receive extra funding dollars by the end of the month.
The board says it can no longer afford the $17 million annual price tag to keep the pools open.
"If we do not receive grant money from the province or if we do not receive an education mill rate that would support these schools, then we would start decommissioning them by June," TDSB chairman John Campbell said on Wednesday.
Trustees voted last summer to close the pools if additional funding was not secured by Feb. 1.
The board asked the Ontario government for more cash, but the province declined, saying it is a Toronto issue.
Education Minister Kathleen Wynne told CTV Toronto the province has already allocated extra for funds for programs such as physical education, which includes pools.
Wynne noted no other school board in Ontario runs swimming pools.
The Toronto board says it will ask the city of Toronto for more money. Campbell will meet with several city councillors on Thursday to plead his case.
The city pays the partial costs of 35 of the board's swimming pools, but contributing to all pools would be "a real stretch," Coun. Joe Mihevc said on Wednesday.
"We are about to renew our operating agreement for 35 schools. Those are the ones where we have programs and we want to continue to have programs. Beyond that, that's frankly a hard sell for us," Mihevc said.
Earlier this week, Toronto committed to offer free water survival lessons to all Grade 4 students in an attempt to save the pools.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon
