A Tuesday, Jan. 19, night meeting at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) headquarters saw what many may consider a trickle of water poured into an Olympic-sized pool of problems.
The issue at hand was the remaining nine school pools scheduled to be closed in 2009. But, after a unanimous vote by school board trustees, those pools will reopen. Well, at least for as long as the money raised by community organizations and the Aquatics Working Group (AWG) lasts.This is no way to solve the pools problem.The crux of the problem is that long-term solutions have not been finalized or secured. The AWG, chaired by former Toronto mayor David Crombie, has been working since April 2008 to find a long-term solution to pool funding but has yet to find one. This should cause Torontonians grave concern. Not immediately, but for the not-too-distant future.The nine schools discussed at the emergency meeting (see www.insidetoronto.com/sports/article/507758) together managed to raise more money than needed to keep the water flowing, but this cash does not prevent the same closure discussion from happening again.According to stipulations for provincial government funding, schools can tap into money earmarked for capital improvements - basically, getting school pools up to snuff. Those schools, if the money is used for such improvements, will have a no-close guarantee for eight years but the funding only covers the improvements. The money to staff, clean, and maintain the pools has to come from somewhere else. But where? Options include the TDSB budget or, like is the case now, the hard work and dedication of community organizations and the AWG. Thirty of the 37 pools considered for closure across the city are now saved. This should be commended. But, there are 33 more pools currently leased by the city that do not have a long-term plan either. What will happen to those pools once their lease is up? Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra said it best: it will be "like deja vu all over again".At the moment, the inevitable has been delayed, but the school pools quagmire isn't going away. It's only going to become more and more complicated as funding and funds raised by community organizations dry up.Hopefully in the coming years, some, if not all of these problems will get resolved. And a city-wide pools governance model will be created. Unfortunately, the fact remains some schools and communities that need them will be left high and dry.