Details on the costs associated with running 11 Accommodation Review Committees (ARC) across the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) have been released and it seems the meetings, intended to save the board money by closing or amalgamating under-enrolled schools, will end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The information was made public and distributed to trustees in a Wednesday, March 3 meeting of the Administration, Accountability and Finance Committee, in response to inquiries from trustees at the board's last general meeting.The report divulges total costs for each ARC, broken down into specific categories like printing, meeting expense, interpreters, translations and professional fees. The information is supplemented by a projection of the estimated expenditures to bring each ARC to conclusion by this June.To date, the most expensive ARC has been in Ward 11, where discussions involving JR Wilcox Community School, Cedarvale Community School. Arlington Middle School, Rawlinson Community School and Humewood Community School have already added up to over $23,000. Other ARCs have spent as little as $7,200.When all the ARCs are considered together, the total costs amount to $134,443, and counting.Most ARCs still have one meeting left, followed by two months where their reports can be challenged and then a final vote by the TDSB based on recommendations from the ARCs' reports. From now until then, TDSB staff estimate that another $111,000 will be spent, mostly on professional fees.The forecasted grand total for the entire process, from beginning to end, is listed at over $245,000.The detailed report can be found on the TDSB's website.