Sign the Petition to Stop School Sales in Toronto

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Why School Sales are NOT the Solution

 

 School sales in general CANNOT solve the deficit the TDSB is experiencing year after year, because:

 1) The amount of money made on a school sale ($ 5 – 10 million) is negligible compared to repairs and maintenance backlog the TDSB has accumulated (3.5 billion). Simple calculations demonstrate that even selling ALL 20 closed down schools in Toronto (at 5 million each) can make up for about 3% (!!!) of the backlog. Even doubling the price will yield up to 6% of what is needed.

Such approach to profit generation is similar to burning furniture to heat the house – a huge waste of tax-payer's money no responsible government should even consider.

 2) The Ministry of Education claims that a significant number of Toronto schools are 'half-empty', but the formulas for calculating school's capacity and actual enrollment are questionable. Those formulas require 'every single room of the school to be full of students at any given part of a school day', which ignores the nature of educational activities and necessary facilities (music room, gym, shop, cafeteria, assembly hall, ESL class, etc., etc.). Furthermore, schools used as childcare centres or adult education sites are considered 'empty'.

Results of such 'calculations' are used to manipulate public opinion into believing that many Toronto schools are 'surplus to the needs of the Board'.

 3) Sales of school properties from decades ago led to disastrous lack of school space today. Just one example: Yonge & Finch neighbourhood lost Edithvale PS. Even though there is a community centre today, it does not compensate, and never will, for thousands of students being bussed every day out of their neighbourhood. Due to the short-sighted vision, the TDSB disposed of the 'surplus property' and lost any chance to adequately address the need for school space in the booming area today and in the future.

4) The Ministry and the Board must acknowledge that Toronto's school population is growing and is bound to grow, and 'surplus properties' will be in desperate need in the future. Disposing of them may appear to ease the difficult task of balancing the books before the next provincial elections, but it is robbing us of possibilities for quality education for all in the more distant future.

 5) Even if a property is acquired by another public agency, the necessity to buy it at its 'fair market value' in Toronto requires a significant amount of money that will have to be taken from our tax-payers' pockets again, not to mention the cost of the sale itself (appraisals, legal fees, etc.)

 The sale of McNicoll Ave PS in Willowdale would be an irresponsible disposal of the TDSB's public assets because:

 1) McNicoll Ave PS fully recovers its operational cost through rent payments made by the current tenants - a childcare centre and a children's mental health centre, among others.

2) Funders of the current tenants the City of Toronto and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care -  have invested heavily into upgrading the building and the site (about 4.5 million in the last few years), thus the value of the property has significantly increased, so the TDSB has actually increased it capital assets without investing any capital funding.

 3) Services offered by the current tenants are of direct and obvious value to the Board itself.

 4) The thriving community, the Board, and Ontario public education system can not afford to lose one of the very few public spaces in the area in exchange for a few millions of dollars that evaporate into thin air considering the scale of the TDSB budget and its maintenance backlog.

 There are many other arguments each of us can add to the list, and communicating them to our MPPs, ALL trustees, and the Ministry of Education is a crucial step to ensure we do not lose the valuable community asset. It is the time for us to send another e-mail or make a phone call, two, or three to remind our representatives at all levels of government that school buildings must be seen as opportunities rather than disposable liabilities.