Canada’s largest school board is poised to consider a broad new blueprint for helping those at risk, including a proposal to offer financial incentives to poor students who work hard, possibly with funding from community sponsors.

In a draft report circulated to trustees for discussion in the coming weeks, Toronto District School Board staff also recommend exploring the feasibility of opening several year-round schools (so struggling students don’t forget as much over summer) and of offering more support to children who are black, Middle Eastern, Latino, Portuguese, aboriginal, Roma and male — those who drop out most.

The report, titled “Opportunity Gap,” suggests the board take its time — the next three years — to consider how a financial “student performance incentive” plan might work for students who face “challenging circumstances.”

Trustees must also consider whether rewards should be tied to attendance, behaviour, skills, marks, credits earned or graduation.

The report suggests a pilot project might be launched in 2014-2015.

With arguably the widest array of high-needs children in the country, the board has long grappled with how to help students overcome numerous roadblocks to learning.

The report, to be presented in detail to trustees by director of education Chris Spence, is the latest attempt to tackle that challenge. While there are no price tags given, it’s believed the board’s $2 billion-a-year budget can cover many of the report’s recommendations.

Some proposals are already working elsewhere. The Pathways to Education mentoring program has slashed dropout rates in 11 poor neighbourhoods across Canada (four of them in Toronto) by offering support that includes bus tickets, lunch coupons and a full $1,000 tuition scholarship for each grade passed by a student.

Financing comes largely from community and corporate donors, although the provincial government has added funding in recent years.

The University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education paid a group of Latino students $25 per week this spring to take part in a credit course on Saturdays at Central Technical School in which they conducted a research project into why their community has one of the highest dropout rates.

Year-round schools can also be found across the GTA. Durham region runs two elementary and three high schools on a year-round calendar, in which students typically have July off in summer, two-week breaks at Thanksgiving, Christmas and March Break, and a week off in May.

Peel Region has had a year-round school since 2005 that has been shown to help students academically, especially those learning English and those with learning disabilities.

Among other proposals in the TDSB report:

• Launch a new high school program for aboriginal teens in the east end in 2012-2013, promote more aboriginal role models and provide more native language courses.

• Boost interpreters, classroom materials and parent outreach in 2012-2013 to help the wave of struggling young Roma refugees arriving in schools, largely in Parkdale, who have little experience with formal education.

• Establish year-round outreach and enrichment programs in 2012-2013 specifically for students of Caribbean background, with the help of community agencies.

• Explore the feasibility in 2013-2014 of establishing a special Achievement Zone category of schools in high-need neighbourhoods that would receive more resources and have the power to set the length of their own school day and week to best suit their students’ needs, within the requirements of the Ontario curriculum.

• Establish a mentoring program in 2012-2013 that includes coaching, monitoring and leadership programs across the board specifically designed for students of black, Middle-Eastern, latino and Portuguese backgrounds.

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• Develop a plan in 2013-2014 to establish a cultural education centre that would work with community agencies and other educational institutions to develop curriculum, guidance resources and teacher training designed to make learning more relevant for these disadvantaged groups.

Boards across Canada are grappling with new ways to help students who face demographic barriers. The District School Board of Niagara opened a controversial school this fall for children whose parents never went beyond high school.

With files from Kristin Rushowy