I saw the message in my WhatsApp group: “Save our summer school!” Then another message arrived in my email: “One battle after another.” It was about another school in Oakwood Village. Two different groups. Two different problems. Both are trying to get in touch with the same man. Mr. Gupta.
The summer program at Rawlinson that Mr. Gupta cut wasn’t Mickey Mouse. It’s the Elementary Literacy and Math Summer School Program. School principals recommend students attend to strengthen their reading and math skills and meet curriculum standards. For some kids, it’s a bridge to keep them from falling behind.
Rawlinson’s summer school was one of 13 programs Mr. Gupta cut from Toronto schools.
Parents noticed quickly.
Cutting a program that kids need for their education is causing parents to respond. But respond to whom? There’s no elected trustee to represent their education concerns anymore.
So parents are calling on Mr. Gupta.
And it’s not just parents at Rawlinson.
The Oakwood Vaughan Community Organization, a residents group trying to keep the community hub at Vaughan Road Academy open by expanding programs, is also trying to reach him.
But they’re running into a wall.
“We are…encountering some challenges in getting the TDSB/TLC to meet at the negotiating table. Since the Ontario Government appointed a Provincial Supervisor and suspended local democracy, we have no elected trustee voice to intervene for us.”
Last year, Premier Doug Ford took over the Toronto District School Board and appointed Mr. Rohit Gupta to replace its 22 elected trustees.
Now Mr. Gupta runs the largest school board in Canada.
It includes 579 schools, 235,000 students, and more than 100,000 adult learners in continuing education programs.
Parents call. Community groups send emails.
But Mr. Gupta doesn’t return calls or emails. He only responds to Doug Ford.
