Seven schools from areas surrounding the St. Paul’s and Eglinton-Lawrence wards were among the 70 recently listed by the media as under review by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) for closure — but officials say their concerns are centred around Vaughan Road Academy.
York Memorial, Oakwood, John Polanyi, George Harvey and Forest Hill Collegiate Institute (C.I.) are all included in a particular study to address low enrolment and underutilization at Vaughan Road Academy (currently operating at 30 per cent) — which could be shut down.
“Four or five schools are usually listed in a cluster,” said Shelley Laskin, TDSB trustee for St. Paul’s (ward 11), “and hypothetically one of those schools would be closed and the others would become ‘receiving schools.’”
This explains why Forest Hill C.I., which is currently over its Ontario Ministry of Education capacity at 115 per cent (due, in part, to optional attendance, which allows students to attend a school other than their assigned one), is mistakenly listed among the 70, when the Ministry has no intention of closing the school.
According to Jason Kunin, a teacher at Vaughan Road Academy, optional attendance is largely to blame for the uneven distribution of students. “It has destroyed the concept of the neighbourhood school,” said Kunin. “Forest Hill C.I. probably has 200 kids who should be ours.”
“We have this reputation … that we’re this sort of rough and tumble place, and that’s never been the reality.”
Which according to Kunin is why some in-area students often opt to attend Forest Hill C.I. instead.
In the event that Vaughan Road closes, Laskin said many of the self-contained programs offered at the school (like the elite athletes program and the international baccalaureate program) will likely be redirected to John Polanyi. The fate of the child day care centre, however, remains unknown.
Kunin said most of the staff at Vaughan Road aren’t terribly optimistic about their chances, but believes that a more appropriate solution to the problem would be to close John Polanyi.
While Laskin maintains that the study is the Ministry’s attempt to “right-size” the system; she worries that many residents do not have all the information. Peggy Aitchison, principal of Forest Hill C.I., said she has received calls from former teachers and parents who were concerned that Forest Hill C.I. would close.
“The list was leaked without any context from the board,” said Laskin. “People like to jump to the worst-case scenario.”