Canada's largest school board is considering splitting up in order to improve efficiency and cut back on bureaucracy.

Trustees with the Toronto District School Board met on Wednesday to discuss the results of a 2006 review of the board's governance model. The goal of the review was to recommend an optimum size and structure for the board to communicate, administer and govern efficiently.

The reports lists four different models of governance for the board to consider:

  • Increased local decision-making model -- The board would remain in tact but more resources and decision-making power would go to local entities. The governance structure would remain the same.
  • Federal model -- Regional boards would be set up to deal with local issues but board-wide issues will be decided by a central governing body
  • Umbrella model -- This model will closely resemble what it was like before amalgamation with area boards however the TDSB would continue to exist with a narrowly defined jurisdiction
  • Full de-amalgamation model -- The TDSB would cease to exist and its jurisdiction would be split among the newly created area boards. Area boards will have full autonomy over their jurisdictions

The proposal to break up the TDSB was met with mixed reaction.

Kathleen Wynne, Ontario's Education Minister, said she's always been skeptical that the current board is too big to serve the schools well.

"The fact is if you look at what people say about the ideal size of a board, it's about 50,000 students," she told CTV Toronto. "At the TDSB, they're 250,000 students at this board."

She said while she's in favour of changing the way the board is set up, she's not going to force a decision.

"They need to have a conversation about this and I'm not going to be imposing anything," she said. "It's up to them to come forward and have a conversation with me."

The board's current set-up was created by Mike Harris after amalgamation of the city as a cost-saving measure. The TDSB is made up of the former seven school boards in Toronto.

School Trustee Howard Goodman said he doesn't agree the board should split up, though he did say the board could improve the way it communicates.

Goodman told the Toronto Star splitting up the board would be hard on the students.

"(It would create) years of turmoil just like we had with amalgamation," he said. "We would be consumed with staff wondering who would go where, rather than serving kids. I don't think we should do that again."

He also said splitting up the TDSB into smaller boards would make parents unhappy.

"We're one city; Toronto would never tolerate having two school boards -- say, Toronto East and Toronto West -- because at least half the people will think they got the raw end of the deal," he told the newspaper.

Trustee Josh Matlow told CTV News the board has more important items on its agenda to deal with right now.

"We need to focus on our priorities. We have a big budget deficit that we have to contend with as well, and I think this is something that we should leave in the able hands of provincial government," Matlow said.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon