Parents say school play costing $10,000

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TORONTO, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Parents of students at a Toronto high school say they are appalled at how much money it is costing them to produce a school play.

Teachers in Toronto have stopped running extracurricular activities, so some parents with students at Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute have volunteered to help put on the school play, the Toronto Star reported.

However, Jim Barry, one of the parents involved with the play, said the costs have been exorbitant -- in total about $10,000 for renting the school auditorium for rehearsals and performances, to buying insurance, to hiring police officers for security during the shows, which are all required by the Toronto District School Board.

"I really resent the TDSB's approach," Barry said. "I thought the TDSB would do everything it could possibly do to facilitate parents picking up the slack, but instead they are siding with the union. We are being treated no differently than someone who has no connection to the school."