School trustees aim to reinvest money back to communities

ERIC HEINO

February 4, 2010

The Toronto District School Board is scrambling to develop a plan to reinvest money saved from school closures back into local communities, but it may be too little, too late.

Some Accommodation Review Committees (ARCs) in the city began to slip towards anger and frustration after it became clear the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) was not obligated to invest any additional money in areas facing a significant loss of resources in the form of school closures. In a TDSB meeting on Thursday, Feb. 3, trustees took the first step down the complicated path of figuring out how money saved by school closures can be reinvested back into communities.

"My motion is to address what is happening in the city as a whole," said Trustee Michael Coteau (Don Valley East), who wrote the agenda item. "We need to tell them that if they are prepared to enter in a discussion of reconfiguring schools, there has to be a reinvestment back into their communities because a community should not have to make a sacrifice...and not reap any benefits by making that huge step."

While the motion was passed and mandates director of education Chris Spence to present a report on community reinvestment on Feb. 22, some trustees saw difficulties in getting communities on board, even with a move towards a reinvestment strategy.

One concern is that most current ARCs will have already completed most of their work in the community by the time any type of concrete strategy could be passed.

Another roadblock is that the province is asking the board to repay a $100 million capital debt before any new investments can be made. TDSB staff is in talks with the provincial government to try and cut a deal that would allow more money to be spent.

Later in the meeting, Trustee Irene Atkinson (Parkdale-High Park) requested that the board temporarily shut down some ARCs until a team of experts could be hired to direct the process.

After debating until nearly 1 a.m. the motion to put the ARCs on hold was defeated, but trustees agreed to ask Spence to report on hiring a support team for future ARCs and asked staff to provide a three- to five-year capital budget plan by April.