The Toronto Star

The Peel District School Board announced that it will be closing 9 out of its 45 full-day kindergarten classrooms for next September, unless there is a boost in funding for the program.  The schools that are affected are Dorset Drive and Terry Fox (Brampton), Credit View (Caledon), Hartsdale Avenue and Willow Glen (Mississauga).This year, Peel is running 35 full-day kindergarten classrooms funded by the province, and has funded an additional 10 classes, a cost of about $870,000, due to what they see as demand in the province.  The board has also spent $392,000 more than the amount the province has provided for the mandated full-day kindergarten classes.

Minister Leona Dombrowsky noted that the board is already receiving $11 million for the program, and that funding extra classes was "above and beyond the funding they received".  If these classes do close, then they will be put on the list of potential sites for Year 3 (2011-2012). 

The Minister feels "it is unfortunate that they are going back on this commitment...it's going to come as a surprise to parents and it's not fair to the families involved."

To read the full article from The Toronto Star, click here.