Parents at Heydon Park Secondary School, the Toronto District School Board's (TDSB) only public high school catering specifically to young women, transgender, and non-binary students with special needs, are expressing significant concerns over the school's future amid reports that it may be on the path toward closure.
Recently, a gathering of concerned parents took place outside the school, located near Dundas Street and University Avenue, where they voiced their worries regarding the TDSB's decision to halt admissions for incoming Grade 9 students for the current academic year. This decision, they argue, is a critical step that may lead to a full closure of the school.
Kamala Kalsi, Co-Chair of the Parent Council, highlighted that the TDSB has canceled the Grade 8 open house, which traditionally serves as a key recruitment tool for new students. “They are going to use the reason that there's low enrollment, and I’m sure they’re planning to close the school down,” she asserted. Parent Matt Hawkins echoed her concerns, commenting on the lack of promotion for the school, including the failure of feeder schools to advertise it effectively. “Without an open house, of course enrollment is going to be down,” Hawkins added.
For students like Sammy, Heydon Park serves as a critical source of support and encouragement. Her mother, Grace Zelek, expressed her gratitude for the school's role in her daughter’s life, stating, “Heydon Park has given her the courage, the support, she is confident, she is doing well in school, she loves being in school.” Zelek emphasized that the environment, while challenging, provides the necessary opportunities for success.
Parents voiced their concerns about the implications of the school’s potential closure, suggesting that their special needs children would likely be assigned to regular classrooms, employing an inclusion model. This raises alarms for parent Jennifer Brooks, who stated, “We did it and it didn’t work.” Other parents concurred, believing that placing students in diverse schools with varying levels of support would ultimately result in higher costs for the province. Kalsi passionately remarked, “This is a special place, a safe space. They have a human right to an education, and they would not get the same education in regular schools.”
In response to the community's concerns, the TDSB provided a letter explaining their rationale for discontinuing the Grade 9 program. They acknowledged that the school has faced significant challenges with low enrollment in recent years, with forecasts revealing that only eight students would enroll in Grade 9 this year. Consequently, the board decided not to offer this program for the 2025-26 school year, stating, “As you will recall over recent years, this school has struggled with a limited number of Grade 9 students.”
Looking toward the future, the TDSB indicated that they will not conduct an open house for Grade 9 admissions for the 2026-27 school year, aiming to better manage families’ expectations regarding the school's viability. They recognized that this decision would be disappointing to those families who have a deep affection for the institution, but emphasized, “We cannot operate a Grade 9 program when there are not enough students to make it viable.”
As the situation develops, parents are left anxious about the potential impacts of these decisions on their children's education and the unique community that Heydon Park has built to support students with special needs.
