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Public school won’t be redeveloped by TDSB without parents’ consent
Trustee says board committed to OK from residents or it won’t happen
By Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Dec. 23.)
Nothing raises alarm bells in a community like talks of redevelopment and school closings, so with both possibilities floated at Davisville PS panic set in.
Trustee Josh Matlow was concerned the Toronto District School Board was pairing a possible redevelopment of the site with an Accommodation Review Committee looking at everything from expansion to closure for Davisville.
Matlow’s gotten verbal and written commitments from the board that redevelopment at Davisville won’t happen without agreement from parents and residents. And the accommodation review process is more likely to result in expansion than closure of Davisville, Matlow tells the Town Crier.
Davisville redevelopment discussions
“We have met with parents and ratepayers. They have been told directly redevelopment won’t happen without their consent,” Matlow says Dec. 22.
Senior board staff, Director of Education Chris Spence, Matlow and members of the Oriole Park Ratepayers Association, South Eglinton Ratepayers Association and Davisville parent council met in late October and will meet again in early January and the months to come.
Matlow said TDSB staff won’t recommend redevelopment of the Davisville PS site to the board without a signed memorandum of understanding from parents and ratepayers associations.
If they agree redevelopment is the right thing to explore, then the community at large will be part of discussions on how and what is appropriate.
“It’s a worthy discussion, but nothing has been decided,” Matlow says.
St. Paul’s Councillor Michael Walker is still concerned.
“The board is looking at Davisville PS as an asset to gain funding. I find it offensive Davisville is looked upon as asset. It’s a school first,” says Walker, who lives three blocks from the school site at Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue.
Walker said he wants a written commitment residents will have a say on redevelopment.
“It’s all words. Where is any of this in writing?” Walker asks Dec. 22.
Matlow put this on his Twitter account, “We have commitment from TDSB: School board will not redevelop school property without support from Davisville parents and residents.”
He also sent the Town Crier a copy of an email from Director of Education Spence, “To make it as clear as possible, any decision made will be one that is made together between the TDSB and your community.”
Accommodation review on expansion, closure options
The accommodation review for Davisville also includes Hodgson Sr PS, Maurice Cody PS, Eglinton Jr PS and Spectrum Alternative Senior School.
Many of the other local schools in this review are over-enrolled, but Davisville is not so it may be expand to accommodate more students, says Matlow.
“The absolute truth, I don’t think Davisville is in any danger of closing. I think we’ve saved Davisville because of the fact we added French immersion there, which I implemented,” Matlow says. “We should expand the French immersion program. There’s a huge demand for it.”
Co-chair of the Davisville parent council Rob McCready agrees.
“This (French) program is projected to grow to be larger than the English stream program by 2018, bringing the school’s utilization up to 94% by that time,” McCready wrote Dec. 19 to the Town Crier. “If the Board had wanted to justify closing and selling off Davisville, they could have put that program elsewhere.”
However, McCready is concerned that if the Accommodation Review Committee considers expansion of Davisville that may “strongly assume redevelopment” of the site as well.
“As an ARC member, I will not support any recommendations that assume redevelopment until the community has agreed to even a rough plan that would allow it,” McCready wrote.
Councillor Walker doesn’t think there should be a Davisville ARC at all.
“This ARC isn’t necessary,” Walker says Dec. 22.
He asks why the school board is doing an ARC for Davisville, which was not on the original list of some 36 schools where ARCs would be conducted.
One option ARCs look at is closing schools and moving students elsewhere.
“Where is the document that says this school is slated for closure?” Walker asks.
Matlow maintains Davisville is more likely to expand in this case, than close.
Walker is not convinced.
“It (TDSB documentation) says maintain the local school if required. It’s called the Davisville Yonge Redevelopment ARC,” Walker says.
Matlow got the school board to separate the ARC and redevelopment into two distinct processes where questions and options can be discussed.
“Having an honest conversation about what we should do is the right way to go about it,” Matlow says.
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