Support specialized programs & schools made possible by optional attendance!

I rely on my alternative school to help me get the education i need without compromising my mental health, and i know many other people who rely on it too. Don’t take this from us.

Please let our generation and the next and the next and so on, get to aspire to greatness and do what we know how to do. Let us pursue our dreams and let us be happy in this scary world.

I hope TDSB can keep the specialized program to benefit the students who need more opportunities! Thank you

As someone whose parents struggle to pay for private lessons, and cannot afford my instrument, it is vital that specialized schools exist for me and those who are like me. Specialized schools provide safe spaces and accommodations for people who need them most. Offering more people less is not equity, that's equality. The board needs not to treat us all as equals, but to treat us all equally as individuals with unique special needs.

Going to Etobicoke School of the Arts showed me I can be successful at what I love. When I was in middle school I was bullied because I have a learning disability and no one thought I was smart. I was on a waiting list for three years to be assessed so I started to believe that I wasn't smart. Studying in a specialized arts program helped me develop my strengths. Etobicoke School of the Arts creates artists that are and will be successful in the art world. There are so many problems in the educational system for children growing up with learning disabilities. Please don't let this be another problem.

Please keep our youth creative!

People should have the opportunity to express who they are.

keep my school

As a student at etobicoke school of the arts I am horrified at the thought of denying other students the opportunities going to a specialized school has given me. I am in my senior year of the school so most of the changes will not affect me personally but my heart goes out to my friends in the grades below me who will not be able to experience portfolio day or pursue their passions because of this task force. If this goes through only wealthy students will be able to go to specialized schools because they will have to go to private schools to meet their needs. The majority of my friends in specialized schools are not wealthy enough to afford the arts without the aid of an arts program and it is sad to think of the many people below the poverty line who will be deprived of the arts because of this movement. The tdsb is calling these changes "equitable" when in fact that is a blatant lie. Equity is giving people what they need to be able to prosper and have the same opportunities, equality is giving everybody the same thing even though not everyone has the same needs. This movement to make every school "equal" does not take into account that every student is a different individual who has different needs, interests, and learning styles.

every kid is different. we need specialiazed programs for different kids. do not use execuse and kids in canada need program to compete grobally. the curriculum here is reativly easy compared with other countries.

Specialized schools like ESA changed my life. I wouldn't have had half a chance of developing my talents and becoming a multi-faceted individual if I didn't have ESA. Not only do the programs provide you with a chance to express your identity, the environment of an art school is the most welcoming, inclusive and accepting I've ever seen in a highschool. There's an incredible energy that I believe can be accomplished in all schools that art schools exemplify.

Special child DO NEED special education beyond regular public education!

ESA is one of the best publicly run schooling systems in the country and it would be a real shame if it got shut down!

DO NOT GET RID OF THESE PROGRAMS! SO ESSENTIAL TO ALL UPCOMING YOUNG ARTISTS!

Incredible idea, love the attention this is getting too. Extremely necessary.

we need these programs,every kids is different, we must help everykids strong point,we need these programs !

Specialized programs offer great and unique education to those to aren't interested In the regular academic curriculum or want to go into fields that don't necessarily need what is taught at regular schools. These specialized schools are so incredibly important and it would be a giant mistake to get rid of them.

I am an Etobicoke school of the Arts graduate, in addition to a graduate of Western University. The idea that closing specialized arts schools in Toronto could in any way enhance equity throughout the TDSB is ludacris, if anything more specialized schools in all areas would enhance the way that students learn in this city. I have had outstanding experiences throughout my time at ESA and many of them are thanks to the outstanding foundation ESA gave me. Today I am building my career in film production and area that I never would have been drawn to had it not been for the values and skills I learned at one of Toronto’s best specialized schools. This should be a serious concern to every parent and student in Toronto.

De-streaming did not work 20 years ago and it will not work now. One size does not fit all with people and it never will. These changes will hurt the very students they are attempting to help. You do not improve the circumstances of one group of students by removing opportunities for others. We are public education; so we are REQUIRED to meet the needs of ALL of our students. Not just ESL or Special Education or applied or academic etc. If a student arrives in grade 8 already knowing calculus or is a national class athlete or a gifted musician etc, then I beleive we should not let them languish for 4 years until the system catches up (If it ever does). We need to ensure that these students are served just like any other student with other needs. Special programs go a long way to achieving this. The continental success and huge demand for our collective specialized programs is a true measure of how valuable so many perceive them to be. I believe schools should add value to each and every student not just have them achieve some arbitrary (mediocre) level. This why so many students find school boring. I wish every student to be stretched to move directly to their own potential we will have better, more successful and engaged students and by extension improve our country. This foolish suggestion may well be imposed by the Authorities, but like in so many cases these people (a) will not be teaching these impossible classes (b) are probably not the parents of these students (c) will not be around to fix all the problems. Finally, I think the folks on this committee should be held to the following standard. If this is imposed and it fails then they PERSONALLY pay all the costs back to the Board and the government. Tax payers are tired of paying for such avoidable mistakes.

Literally all my cousin talks about is her specialized school, brilliant people like her need an outlet like this her program to prosper