Parents of students at Beverley School are concerned over potential funding cuts as the Toronto District School Board works to balance its budget.

The Beverley School, located in Baldwin Village, is an elementary school specifically for students with developmental disabilities.

It has been a game-changer for many students, including Shira Wolch’s seven-year-old daughter Sienna, who has a number of medical issues including cerebral palsy and visual impairment.

“She’s learning how to communicate. She’s non-speaking so for the first time we’re communicating with her,” shared Wolch. “They teach them how to eat, how to interact, how to toilet, how to communicate, these are the things they’re learning at school and these congregated sites do it so well.”

But parents have been notified about potential cuts to the school’s budget.

Matt Kantor and Alana Kayfetz’s son Henry has Myhre Syndrome, an ultra rare genetic disorder which affects every major system of his body, including his lungs and heart. He is currently in his first year of Junior Kindergarten at the school, and they say it’s helped him immensely.

“It’s really like his personality has come out. He’s much more interactive with us,” said Kantor.

These stories are part of the reason parents are banding together to ensure other families can reap the benefits of the highly specialized learning environment.

“My understanding is that the funding cut would affect an incoming class, so wouldn’t necessarily be students who are currently there, but I couldn’t imagine if our son was born one year later not being able to have the opportunity to go to Beverley would be completely devastating for our family,” said Kayfetz.

The TDSB says it’s still in the planning stages for the next school year, and discussions around staffing are ongoing.

“Part of this process involves sharing projected staffing allocations with schools. Any potential changes will take into consideration the unique needs of the Beverley School community – specifically the needs of individual students, classroom structure, and the number of students to ensure we are maintaining the appropriate level of support and care,” they said in a statement to CityNews.

When asked what her message to the board was, Wolch said, “We need our teachers, our teachers are the heart of this school, these teachers are experts. They know how to meet the needs of our disabled, complex children.”

The TDSB writes on its website that in recent years, the board has faced growing pressure to spend more than what has been allocated by the Ministry of Education, noting a $38.5 million shortfall to support special education.

In response, a spokesperson for the Education Minister tells CityNews in a statement in part: “The TDSB is projected to receive $15.4 million more for special education funding for the 2024-25 school year, for a total of $401.4 million, compared to 2023-24. While the ministry provides funding to school boards, it is the board’s responsibility to determine how to allocate this funding to its schools based on local needs.”