The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has announced a list of 75 schools that could be hosting full-day kindergarten classes as early as September.
In October, the provincial government announced its plan to extend the current half-day kindergarten model to a full-day program that would be fully implemented in schools in Ontario by 2015. Working together with the province and partners within Toronto, the board selected 75 schools capable of hosting 209 programs at the start of the next school year.
The current list is not set in stone, but more of a recommendation that will be sent to the Ministry of Education for their consideration. The provincial government only plans to run 190 programs in Toronto, 19 fewer than the TDSB has provided room for. As a result, it is likely some of the schools listed will be cut before a final decision is made by the province in January.
The schools that open full-day early learning programs will be the first in a six-year plan that will see more programs open each year, with an estimated final cost of about $1.5 billion. This funding will be provided by the provincial government and will bring about 35,000 four- and five-year-old students across Ontario into full-day learning in 2010.