Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) says it will have to eliminate up to 136 staffing positions because of recent changes imposed by the Doug Ford government.
The proposed reductions go before trustees at a meeting on Thursday evening and would take effect for the 2019-2020 school year.
Almost two thirds of the lost positions, 79 in total, would affect public high school teachers.
23 educational assistants would also be affected by the projected reductions.
Board Chair Alex Johnstone says trustees are “extremely disappointed in the direction and the cuts imposed” by Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government, which includes larger class sizes.
Johnstone adds that they “do not take these changes lightly”, calling reductions in staffing allocation “the greatest challenge facing HWDSB at this time.”
The school board’s updated staffing numbers were detailed in a media release on Thursday afternoon, just as students were walking out of classes to protest the provincial government’s changes to education.