Thorncliffe Park `at top of the list' of school projects
Kristin Rushowy EDUCATION REPORTER
ED AGAWIN/TORONTO STAR
A $10 million addition that would rid Thorncliffe Park elementary of wall-to-wall portables is the number one priority for the Toronto District School Board, says a report going before a committee of trustees next week. ``(The report) is going to recommend a number of projects, and at the top of the list is Thorncliffe,'' said Gary Parkinson, executive officer of facility services, of the School Revitalization Master Plan. ``We've known that for three years there's no greater need in this city for new pupil places than at Thorncliffe. ``If you look at the (area), you can't shift school boundaries and shuffle them down a few schools. They all live within a kilometre of the school so there's no choice.'' Parents were thrilled to hear the recommendations mirror the demands they've made for the past three years, yet still plan to lobby the board. ``I'm sort of holding back on being too excited because we've heard similar words before,'' said school council co-chair Judy Bright, who has a grandson in Grade 3. ``They've told us before we're number one, but nothing's been done. But now I'm at the point where I feel like they really mean it.'' She said parents will still meet Feb. 22 to discuss the portables issue. The report, which will go from the committee level to a vote at a full board meeting, possibly by the end of this month, is not a done deal. The money for the addition, which Parkinson estimated at between $10 million and$12 million, would come from a $50 million capital reserve fund. The board receives no money from the province for construction. About $10 million of the fund, which is in part made up of money from closed schools now being leased, is earmarked for necessary projects such as asbestos removal. The board has spent time since amalgamation determining priorities on a city-wide basis. That, and a shortage of money, has led to the long wait for Thorncliffe families, Parkinson said. But there are a number of competing needs across the city with large price tags, including millions of dollars needed to replace playground equipment demolished last summer. However, Thorncliffe and its neighbour, Valley Park Middle School, have been deemed among the neediest, given the population growth in the neighbourhood of mainly immigrant families. Thorncliffe, near Don Mills Rd. and Overlea Blvd., is at 240 per cent capacity with 1,355 students in a school designed for 566. Enrolment has boomed over the past three years in particular, and the cash-strapped board has opted to install 33 portables, and six more this fall, to deal with the overflow, instead of building an addition. With 39 portables, there will be little play space left for children, and no soccer field or baseball diamond, either. Under the province's funding formula, boards do not qualify for capital funds until capacity board-wide exceeds 100 per cent. That capacity is calculated on a square-foot-to-student ratio, and under that the board has 2 million excess square feet. Given that the board would have to give away 50 to 100 schools to meet the province's requirements, trustee Kathleen Wynne has said it will never qualify. Using portables is a cheaper alternative in the short run, a ``necessary evil'' to deal with the peaks of enrolment cycles when construction money isn't available, Parkinson said. Since amalgamation, the board hasn't bought any new portables, which cost $50,000, including set-up and building permits, instead shuffling those it already owns. It now has 800 portables in use. Parkinson said he hopes a review of school boundaries that's under way will help eliminate most of those.
Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
