A recent decision to relocate Sir Sandford Fleming Academy’s students (grades 9-12) to Bathurst Heights Secondary School for September 2011 has Maria Rizzo, the local trustee for the Catholic school system, up in arms, defending space that is currently home to hundreds of her students.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) plans to end a lease with the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) that expires in the summer of 2011 to accommodate the move. Since Bathurst Heights Secondary School was closed, the public school board has been renting space in the building to a variety of tenants. Among these are 350 students from Dante Alighieri Academy which is part of the Catholic school board.
Rizzo said that these students will be staying put. “They would have to come and kick us out with the police,” she said. “I have nowhere to put the kids.”
Rizzo would like to keep renting the space until the overenrollment that has Dante Alighieri’s students spread out over three campuses is addressed. She said she believes there is enough space for both sets of students.
Rizzo dismissed the idea of leasing Sir Sandford Fleming’s current building as a potential solution. Howard Goodman, the local trustee at the TDSB, said he is simply acting on staff recommendations, in the best interests of his students. The Bathurst Heights Secondary School building is better situated, with better facilities. “It’s going to be a richer program space for them,” Goodman said.
He explained that the Sir Sandford Fleming school community has been asking to move into the Bathurst Heights building for years now. The TDSB’s decision to relocate these students came at the end of a two-year accommodation review. “If they [TCDSB] want to come to us with a proposal that would work, I’m sure we’ll consider everything,” Goodman said.