The Toronto public board has unveiled a draconian two-year plan to close at least 10 schools in 2007-'08, eliminate 600 education assistants and shut down 80 school swimming pools. The draft budget would punch holes in virtually every aspect of the system to eliminate an $84 million shortfall for the coming school year. But it could solve what has become an almost annual crisis in balancing the $2.3 billion operating budget at the country's biggest board. Last night, trustees agreed to discuss the plan through the summer before an Aug. 31 deadline by which all boards must submit a balanced budget to the province. According to the unusual two-year budget plan, the board would save $45 million a year by making dramatic staff reductions. It recommends cutting 600 of the board's 734 education assistants, those who work to help kindergarten teachers, but not the ones who assist special-needs students. It also includes a 10 per cent reduction in head-office administration, including some superintendents, and a $5 million reduction in school support staff such as secretaries and vice-principals. It would take 5 per cent out of individual school budgets, raise the student fees for overnight outdoor education programs, cut a third of the board's summer literacy camps for high-needs students and reduce textbook spending by 5 per cent. The proposal recommends charging parking fees on school property and cutting one-third of lunchroom supervisors, suggesting that schools pay for them through fundraising. The province would have to give permission for the board to follow through on its plan to achieve $40 million in savings in the first year by cutting the day-to-day maintenance budget. It would then use its renewal funds meant for major repairs to do regular maintenance. The list of cuts is worse than the reductions trustees refused to make four years ago when the previous Conservative government appointed a supervisor to balance the school board budget, said Chris Glover, a father who belongs to the Campaign for Public Education, a coalition of union and parent groups. How can schools pay for lunchroom monitors and supplement students for trips when their budgets are being cut, he said. "The money will have to come from parents. It's not bad if you live in Rosedale but what happens if you live in Regent Park?" The integration of more special-needs children into mainstream classrooms paired with cuts to education assistants will cancel out the benefits of the government's primary class size cap, said John Weatherup, head of the union that represents school support workers. Closing all but three board pools located in special-needs schools would save about $10 million, according to Don Higgins, a senior education official. He called the plan to save $5 million by closing 10 schools "very conservative. We're hoping for more." There are 58 schools in the Toronto District School Board that are 40 per cent empty, said trustee John Campbell, who chairs the board's finance committee. "Can we close that many schools? No, we probably shouldn't. We could quite easily close 20 schools," he said. Last week, the Toronto Catholic District School Board refused to approve a proposed budget that would eliminate its $31 million shortfall. That plan recommended reductions ranging from busing and textbooks to supply teachers. Four years ago, when public trustees defied the Conservative government's demand to cut their budget by $50 million, their Catholic counterparts balanced their books by locking out teachers and closing schools. "We dealt with our budgets differently and ended up in exactly the same place," said Catholic board chair Oliver Carroll. The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board is facing an $8 million shortfall this year. It is holding a special meeting tonight to consider the mandate for an outside adviser to help the board find ways to balance its books.