Contrasting the combative demeanor observed at many Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) meetings across Toronto over the last few months were the cool-headed supporters of Highland Heights, Timberbank and Lynnwood Heights Junior Public Schools.
Attempts to loudly protest school closures in other neighbourhoods had transformed some ARCs into shouting matches between parents and Toronto District School Board (TDSB) staffers, but the case presented by supporters of Highland Heights, Timberbank and Lynnwood have resulted in a final report to trustees recommending all three schools remain open and expand to a JK to Grade 8 model.The report was revealed to the community during the fourth and final ARC meeting, held at Timberbank on Monday, March 1."The original staff option was to close Lynnwood and merge it with Highland," said Senny Mark, a Lynnwood parent who had attend three of four ARC meetings. "Our community worked tirelessly for the last four months and they came up with a lot of documentation and statistics supporting the small school aspect."Parents from the community were able to present the ARC members with information about success rates in small schools which could be generalized to many other schools threatened with amalgamation through the ARC process along with unique factors at play in these three schools.Lynnwood houses classes for developmentally challenged children. It was felt those students would have a particularly difficult time navigating and feeling comfortable in a school with a larger population.Safety concerns were also cited if students were forced to cross a busy Kennedy Road on their way to school."Very clearly over the last three years the traffic is pretty significant," said Trustee Soo Wong. "You have over 500 related accidents with over 100 injuries and that is a real concern."Arguments for student safety and success resulted in a very positive report from the ARC, which will be presented to all TDSB trustees. After a provincially mandated 60-day waiting period, the board will take the final ARC report into consideration and make a final decision on these three schools in June.The recommendations of the ARC report are no guarantee that all schools will ultimately remain open, but Mark feels the research done by parents and ARC members refutes the TDSB's suggestion of declining enrolment patterns in the area."Across the board, that's why they chose schools to be in the ARCs, but in our particular neighbourhood in Scarborough, there is going to be a big shift in demographics," said Mark. "There are a lot of seniors here and within the next few years, there will be mostly new families moving into the neighbourhood which will boost enrolment."