SAY NO!!! TO SCHOOL CLOSURES

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is trying to close one or two schools in our community. Driftwood, Shoreham, Gosford, Blacksmith and Brookview are being threatened.

Our understanding is that TDSB wants to sell closed school lands to pay for needed repairs and additions to their buildings because the province will not fund these properly. This sell-off will not solve the Board’s problems but it will take valuable community resources away from you and your children.

We are concerned that at least two or three school sites will be sold off here in Jane and Finch. The Board has formed a school closing committee of parents and others called the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) to look over the facts using the Boards data. We believe the Board is misleading parents because they already have their own agenda. In fact, the only power the ARC has is to “Study the report and make recommendations on the accommodations options and submit its findings to the Director of Education”. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THE RECOMMENDATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

In other words, the ARC is powerless to stop the process. It can only resist it We are determined that NO SCHOOL should close in Jane/Finch. The children and their communities now and in the future need those schools operating as schools and not as profitable housing for some developer.

If you are on the ARC, do not be bullied into a decision to close schools. Make sure all your meetings and information are public. Invite other points of view to speak at your meetings. Hold your own meetings without TDSB staff to find out what you really need to know. We must fight this wrong headed agenda.

Below are arguments that will help you counteract the arguments the Board will give you. For more information see http://www.saveschools.wordpress.com or email erroly@sympatico.ca Errol Young is a Former Trustee North York Board 1982-1997. Or contact the Residents Task Force at 416-644-2073.