Matias de Dovitiis

Trustees, the Board, and the Province

Fighting to ensure that all our students have equitable access to resources means fighting to stop the cuts being mandated by the Minister of Education. It is important for us to shed a light on how our public education system and our public funds are being used. We need to provide our children with an education that includes literacy, numeracy, arts, music, sports and aids the exploration of every student’s interests. Whatever futures students want to explore, we need to provide the next generation with the resources they need to succeed.

Bullying in Schools

I support a human-rights centred approach to bullying and discrimination. I have voted in support of implementing policies that strengthen actions by staff in our schools that protect our most vulnerable students. I also support the continued use of data collection on incidents of hate and racism in schools. We must do more work to ensure that this data is connected to meaningful actions so that every student and educator feels supported and feels belonging to a loving school community.

Class Sizes and Staffing

We do not currently have the funding required to provide every student with an appropriate class size. I will continue to advocate for better funding from the Provincial Ontario government. We have seen a reduction per child of around $1400 per child, adjusted to inflation. We now see more split classes, with one teacher overseeing students in multiple grades, we see less access to individualized learning resources for students, particularly for special education and we see more students falling behind due to a lack of resources and staff.

Special Programs and Program Access

I voted to support and continue the expansion of specialized programs in the inner suburbs of Toronto. The policy helped to start two new programs in two of my schools while I was Trustee: a new arts programs at Westview Centennial and a new French Immersion program at Gracedale PS. On the other hand, we are seeing cuts and fees added to programs like Special Education and the International Baccalaureate program. These changes reduce access to important life-changing opportunities for out students that I cannot support.