Continued conversation is good news

February 20, 2015

Despite headlines such as, “TDSB reforms fail to meet Minister’s demands regarding schools” and “TDSB reforms don’t go far enough Sandals says”, Fix Our Schools believes things are headed in the right direction.

In a Feb. 20, 2015 interview on Metro Morning, Liz Sandals mentions ongoing conversation with the TDSB over the coming months.

If the Province had simply accepted the TDSB’s submission last week and washed its hands of the TDSB (yet again!), that would have been incredibly disappointing. Ongoing conversations are desperately needed if the adults in charge are going to take joint accountability for finding solutions to the massive issues facing the TDSB.

“My kid’s school is a disgrace” – Nayamath Syed

February 19, 2015

Sarah Fulford, editor of Toronto Life, starts her editor’s letter in the February edition with:

“The seven-year-old girl on our cover; Amal Syed, came to Canada 3 years ago from Abu Dhabi. Her father is a computer analyst who left everything behind to give his daughter a first-rate Ontario education. Like many new immigrants, they settled in the inner suburbs, and he enrolled his daughter at the local public school. He was bitterly disappointed to discover what long-time residents of Toronto have known for years – that many of the buildings where we send our kids to learn are old, overcrowded and in desperate need of repair.”

When Amal’s father is interviewed on page 29, he says, “When we complained to the TDSB, our trustee told us they couldn’t get funding from the ministry to fix the damage, much less create a new building for the students. The ministry, in turn, said it was the TDSB that hadn’t presented the case for repairs. It’s a never-ending circle of blame.”

Secord Elementary at Danforth and Main consists of a century-old main building and a series of 14 portables connected by hallways. The portables were built two decades ago as a temporary solution to overcrowding at Secord Elementary. Over time, these temporary structures have deteriorated – raccoon infestations, falling ceiling tiles and water damage are amongst the most noticeable examples of disrepair.

Several people have asked Fix Our Schools if our call for emergency funding from Kathleen Wynne’s government isn’t a bit much – is this really an emergency? We believe it is – and Amal’s school is a perfect example.

Mayor Tory and City Councillors step up to join conversation about public education

February 17, 2015

Mayor Tory has urged the TDSB, the Province and the City to work together to take shared responsibility for public schools. Excellent.

Fingers crossed the City will come to the table with a willingness to think creatively and to contribute in a tangible way to public schools in Toronto. We sent Mayor Tory and all City Councillors a letter urging them to do just that.

With great power comes great responsibility

February 11, 2015

Disappointed with the Provincial government’s latest response to Fix Our Schools, we sent the following letter to Premier Wynne and Minister Sandals today:

In your government’s February 4, 2015 response to Fix Our Schools, you tell us to discuss our concerns over safe, well-maintained schools with our Trustees, since they are the ones “who are elected by and accountable to the community that they serve”. In fact, you tell us four times in a 1-page letter that the TDSB Trustees are the ones who are responsible and accountable.

Last we checked your government is also elected and therefore accountable to its constituents. To that end, your government must start taking the responsibility that comes with having sole power over the funding of public education. Trustees are not magicians. The funding being provided by your government to the TDSB is insufficient. Please stop blaming the TDSB and start working together with them and the City of Toronto to ensure our children attend school in safe, well-maintained buildings.

You are the only level of government with the power to change the dysfunctional dynamic that is so eloquently described by Hugh Mackenzie in the quote below:

“The (Provincial) government is fully responsible for the level of funding provided but local school boards bear the consequences and are accountable for the results. Despite the government’s complete control over funding, there is no provincial accountability mechanism for the performance of and funding for the system as a whole.” – Hugh Mackenzie, “ Harris-era Hangovers: Toronto School Trustees’ Inherited Funding Shortfall”, Feb. 2015

On behalf of the 247,000 students being educated by Canada’s largest school board, please start engaging in real, ongoing dialogue with the TDSB and the City of Toronto to improve the funding and governance of the TDSB and ensure the success, well-being and safety of all its students. In the short-term, please:

Release emergency funding immediately to repair all leaking roofs and complete every “urgent” repair currently outstanding at TDSB schools.
Redefine school space as public space so that “utilization rates” can allow schools to be used as community hubs and valuable public green spaces.
Change the Provincial regulation guiding Education Development Charges

TDSB parents expect real change in our school board. The TDSB Trustees have stepped up; the City of Toronto has stepped up; Kathleen Wynne – will you and your government please also step up and start working together to Fix Our Schools?

Kind regards,

Krista Wylie – on behalf of Fix Our Schools

Province’s response to Fix Our Schools’ letter asking for help

February 10, 2015

In Education Minister Sandals’ response letter to the letter that Fix Our Schools sent in November, 2014, she highlights that:

For the 2014-15 school year, the Ministry is providing the TDSB with $74.9-million to use for repairs and renovations. This amount represents 2.1% of the total backlog of $3.5-billion outstanding across all TDSB school buildings.
School boards are responsible for determining how to allocate the funding provided by the Ministry to ensure that students have safe and healthy learning environments. Locally elected Trustees are responsible for the provision of suitable and adequate accommodation for students in their jurisdiction. Trustees are responsible for ensuring that each school is in compliance with all appropriate provincial and municipal health and safety requirements.

Minister Sandals encourages us to discuss our concerns with our Trustees, who are the ones accountable.

Trustees are not magicians. The funds provided by the Province to the TDSB for taking care of its school buildings are insufficient and Kathleen Wynne’s government needs to take the accountability and responsibility that comes with being in control over the money. It is time for the Province to stop blaming the TDSB and work together to ensure our children attend school in safe, well-maintained buildings.

The Province’s math doesn’t add up for funding TDSB repairs

February 10, 2015

On average, the sale of a TDSB school will net the TDSB $10 million (as per TDSB staff).

So if the TDSB were to immediately sell all 130 schools operating at below 65%, it would net a total of $1.3-billion in revenue. This money could, theoretically, be used to address repairs and maintenance at TDSB schools and reduce the total backlog to approximately $1.7-billion.

However, money from selling schools actually goes to Provincial coffers, and the Province determines how it actually gets spent. At the moment, the Province has issued no guarantees that money raised by the TDSB selling off schools will be used to address the TDSB’s backlog of repairs and maintenance!

But wait – we digress from the mathematics at hand. Let’s factor in that the TDSB wouldn’t have to repair any of the 130 schools it sells so we could subtract the repairs backlog from those 130 schools from the total backlog. Even though there would also be some savings in operating expenses from the 130 sold schools, it seems prudent to allocate those saved operating funds to student programs and not repairs/maintenance so we won’t worry about those savings in this mathematical exercise.

If we take the total $3-billion backlog and divide it by 588 TDSB schools, each TDSB school has an average of $5.1-million outstanding repairs. So, if we assume that the 130 schools being sold in this fictitious example each have a repair backlog of $5.1-million, then the TDSB could effectively eliminate another $663-million from its total backlog of repairs and maintenance to arrive at a new total backlog of outstanding repairs and maintenance of $1.04-billion.

The Province’s math doesn’t begin to add up to the TDSB being able to address its outstanding repairs and maintenance by selling off “empty” schools – even if it immediately sells off every single school currently operating below 65% and even if the Province agrees to allocate funds received from these sales to the TDSB repairs/maintenance backlog.

Keep in mind that this fictitious math problem also doesn’t take into account the following facts:

The process for selling off schools takes years – not days.
Outstanding repairs and maintenance items will get more complicated and more expensive the longer they are deferred.
There is no way the TDSB will or should sell off all 130 schools operating at below 65% for many, many good reasons (see any number of blog posts on this site!).

So let’s use the following equation to summarize the math here:

$3-billion total backlog of repairs/maintenance across TDSB schools

less: (130 schools operating at less than 65% X $10-million/per school sold in revenue)

less: (130 schools X $5.1-million/school in saved repairs/maintenance costs if all 130 schools sold)

equals: $1.04-billion of outstanding repairs/maintenance that would still exist across TDSB schools even if the TDSB immediately sold off all 130 schools operating below 65%

Clearly, we need a different approach to funding our public schools than the one being proposed by Kathleen Wynne’s government to ensure our children attend safe and well-maintained schools.

If the Province is motivated to find money – it will!

February 9, 2015

An interesting juxtaposition of facts in the Globe and Mail on February 9, 2015.

“Parents fear loss of daycare should schools close” mentions the Province’s continued refrain that the TDSB must sell schools to pay for its $3-billion capital repair backlog. Stay tuned for a quick analysis of the Province’s math in tomorrow’s post!

“Gas plants: Faist says he was told to wipe data on 20 computers” mentions the estimated $1.1-billion cost of cancelling the gas plants.

So when motivated, the Provincial Liberal government can find vast sums of money. We need to motivate the Province to find the money to fix our schools.

City interested in public education

February 3, 2015

In a letter to Education Minister Sandals and the Chairs of both the TDSB and TCDSB, Toronto’s Mayor John Tory says he wants the City to be meaningfully consulted before any decisions are made about the sale of surplus schools by the TDSB.

Toronto’s Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat said that “the Province needs to recognize that schools fulfill a greater purpose within their communities than simply classrooms for school-aged children – for example, as daycares, gathering places for seniors and greenspace for neighbourhoods”.

Hurrah! City politicians and staff are interested in public education! Let’s hope this interest evolves into involvement.

The complex reality of some “empty” TDSB schools

January 29, 2015

Here’s the complex reality of some TDSB schools cited as “empty” by the Province:

Lucy McCormick, at 39%, is one of the few accessible schools in the west end, serving children with developmental disabilities
Parkdale P.S., at 56%, was nearly full two years ago, utilization rates fluctuating wildly due to Federal immigration policies.
Burnhamthorpe Collegiate, at 35%, educates 1,000 adult learners every day, yet this important use as a community hub does not “count” in the 35%
King George P.S., at 89%, operated at 59% in 2009 but Provincial policies impacted attendance and this school is now projected to be at 134% by 2019

Kathleen Wynne’s government must stop citing simple numbers that do not reflect the complex reality they represent. Instead, please start working with the TDSB to address the massive challenges facing Canada’s largest school board.

Thinking outside the box to find funding for school repairs

January 28, 2015

At a recent Education Town Hall held by MPP Cheri Di Novo, Fix Our Schools spoke about Education Development Charges (EDCs). EDCs could be an important avenue for additional funding to address the poor state of schools in the TDSB. An audience member wondered why the Province hadn’t considered issuing bonds to raise the money to address the urgent repairs and maintenance across TDSB schools. Good question.

Our Provincial government must first acknowledge the importance of addressing the outstanding repairs and maintenance across aging Toronto public schools. If there was a political will, then certainly there are ways to find the money.

Conduct a quick web search using the words: “school boards”, “bonds” and “repairs” and you will see that many school boards south of the border have thought outside the box to raise the money required to ensure their children attended safe, well-maintained schools. If an issue is deemed important – the money will be found. Surely, the deplorable state of TDSB schools ought to be deemed an important issue?