Tasha Kheiriddin

Trustees, the Board, and the Province

My priority is to refocus the TDSB on its core mission: excellent education in safe, supportive schools. As a parent, journalist, policy analyst and School Council Chair, I have a deep knowledge of the issues, can ask tough questions, and build support for change. Years of education advocacy have also taught me the importance of listening to the community. Finally, I want the Board and the province to reform spending policies to allow schools to buy supplies at the lowest price, from any vendor, and redirect savings to the classroom.

Bullying in Schools

Every child deserves to feel safe and welcome at school. As trustee, I would advocate for policies that put victims first, while ensuring serious or repeated bullying, violence, hate-based attacks and discrimination have appropriate consequences. I support restorative approaches where they work, but compassion cannot mean an absence of accountability. I would back teachers and principals, strengthen prevention and ask that staff track repeat incidents to determine whether Board policies are actually keeping students safe.

Class Sizes and Staffing

Research shows that smaller classes produce better educational outcomes, particularly for younger students. I would advocate for a reinstatement of the cap on middle-school class size, as well as a smaller size for all classes. As a parent who has advocated for a child with exceptional needs, I also know the importance of EAs, and would like to see an increase in EA funding and numbers. Allocation should be based not just on class size, but classroom complexity, ie the number of students with exceptionalities or challenges in a class.

Special Programs and Program Access

Children have different abilities, interests and needs. I support strong special education, language, arts, academic and skilled-trades programs. I have advocated at the TDSB for fair, merit-based access to specialized programs and against the specialized school admissions lottery. My principles are equality, accessibility and student need: remove barriers, expand successful programs and give every child the chance to reach their potential. Special education classes should also be reduced from 10 to 8 students, as they were previously.