Talk of school closures has blown up in the media this past month, with the implication that 70 schools listed by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) are under review for closure, but officials say the information was taken completely out of context.
“A grouping of schools are studied for various purposes: there could be a grade reconfiguration, a boundary change, a program change or the potential for consolidation and closure,” said Shelley Laskin, Toronto District School Board trustee for Ward 11.
According to Ryan Bird, spokesperson for TDSB, trustees voted on Feb. 10 in favour of the 2015–2016 school year review of Charles H. Best Middle School and Wilmington Elementary School in North York to determine the most efficient distribution of the students and grades across the two sites, which are in close proximity to one another.
But there is a process the school board must follow before schools are closed or consolidated. It’s a process that involves a series of meetings with extensive community consultation. A pupil accommodation review committee (PARC) process involves staff, parents and community members who are directly involved, and it can result in a number of outcomes.
The Ontario Ministry of Education’s current calculation of Wilmington Elementary School’s utilization rate is 101 per cent (281 students enrolled, with a capacity to hold 277), whereas Charles H. Best is at 63 per cent (296 students, with a capacity for 469).
Although Bird did not want to speculate, he did state that there are schools way below 63 per cent, and that this particular case may just be a matter of a boundary change.
However, the outcome will ultimately be determined by the PARC process.
The demographic patterns surrounding certain schools, especially within the downtown core of the city, have changed dramatically since they were built in the early 1900s, and according to Laskin, this is the Ministry’s attempt to “right-size” the system.
Unfortunately reports in the media have caused a panic.
“The list was leaked without any context from the board,” said Laskin. “People like to jump to the worst-case scenario,” she said.
“A whole story here is being reported on, but for whatever reason, the media have focused two per cent of the attention on what should receive 90 per cent of the attention,” said Peggy Aitchison, principal of Forest Hill Collegiate Institute.