The Toronto District School Board has voted to close 23 of its 41 school pools.

The decision was made at a meeting on Wednesday night.

The closures could take effect as early as June.

While the board members met inside, about a dozen students and parents protested outside the offices of the TDSB. 

Many of the protesters were dressed in swimwear, carrying signs asking the school board to reconsider its plans to close 23 pools.

"At first the trustees weren't listening and no one else was listening. It seems that people are starting to perk up now and realize that if all these pools close, we're going to be having a real problem," said Nancy Vaughan, who was collecting signatures for a petition.

Although board members passed a motion to close the pools and lay off staff, they also voted to support an idea from trustee Bruce Davis that the board enlist the help of former mayor David Crombie to facilitate discussions involving the province, the city and the school board aimed at looking for a way to keep the pools open.

"In fact, he was mayor when a lot of these pools were being built. He was part of the 'who-does-what panel' when the province decided what's going to be downloaded to the city [and] what gets picked up by the school board. [He's a] former federal cabinet minister [with] a lot of credibility," said Davis.