email : Webview : Laskin Update - Week of August 29, 2016

Week of August 29, 2016

1 Week Left!

Last week, Secondary School Principals, Vice-Principals and Office administrators were back in schools preparing for students and this week, Elementary Schools open. During the summer our caretaking staff worked to ensure schools will be ready for staff and students - and during the week before school, many teachers are also in schools readying curriculum and classrooms for students - all of us starting the new year with optomism. Hoping everyone enjoys this final week of summer vacation!

The TDSB has a web page you might enjoy checking out, especially now, before the start of the school year. It has key information including the school year calendar (see below for the direct link) and ways to participate in the school community and helpful resources for navigating some of education’s trickier waters - like homework! You’ll find it at www.tdsb.on.ca/needtoknow.

School Year Calendar http://tdsb.on.ca/AboutUs/Calendar.aspx

Labour Day

September 5, 2016

First Day of School

September 6, 2016

Board-wide PA Day

October 7, 2016

Thanksgiving

October 10, 2016

Labour Updates (from the TDSB website) - The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) - August 26, 2016

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has reached a tentative local agreement with the Board’s 5,400 permanent high school teachers who are represented by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF). The agreement must still be ratified by both the TDSB and OSSTF.

Summary of Decisions - Regular Meeting August 24, 2016

A document summariing decisions made by the Board can be found by clicking here.

Governance Review Committee, Wednesday, August 31, 2016, 4:30 p.m.

There are two items of interest on this week's Governance Committee Agenda - the Work Plan for Review of Delegation Procedure and Board Bylaws and the Delegation Procedure itself. On May 25, 2016, the Board approved revisions to the TDSB Bylaws. As part of the revisions, the Delegations section 42 of the Bylaws was replaced in its entirety with a provision requiring the Board to adopt a procedure to permit delegations at committee meetings. The proposal is to formalize a consistent process for the public to address Committees of the Board through delegations (i.e., by speaking in person or written submission). The current process is up to 10 delegations at any committee meeting, but should there be substantially more than 10 requests for oral delegations, there is a process to add an additional meeting. Once approved, a plain language guide will be posted on the website. To read the complete Delegation Procedure, please click here. I'd be interested in your comments.

Renewal Needs Backlog and Facility Condition Index

I have had the Facility Condition Index (FCI) of all our schools posted to my website but as of last Monday, we are proud to be the first school board in Ontario to post to its website (www.tdsb.on.ca) the list of school building repairs for all of the 588 active schools and the FCI for each of our schools, as determined by the Ontario Ministry of Education. The Board chose to make this data public as part of its commitment to openness and transparency. All of this data was assembled by an independent company retained by the Ontario Ministry of Education (EDU).

The Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB’s) Renewal Needs Backlog (RNB) lists 23,232 different repairs that have been identified in our 588 schools. The total value of those repairs is approximately $3.4 billion. It is because the TDSB did not receive adequate provincial funding to make the needed repairs that the backlog continued to grow. However, we have received additional provincial funding allowing us to invest $579 million in school repairs from September 2015 to August 2017. This will allow us to begin to reduce our RNB.

It is very important to understand that not one of these repairs represents a health or safety concern for our students and staff. In fact, it is because the safety of our schools is a top priority for us at TDSB that our maintenance plans are always focused on providing safe places for our students to learn. Our Facilities staff works all year round to ensure our schools are safe regardless of their FCI rating. Effort is made to repair building components where possible; where a component is beyond repair, it will be scheduled for replacement. In that regard, we schedule maintenance to fix the most critical problems related to the health and safety of our students and staff. Also, while components in a school building may be past their life expectancy, i.e. a water boiler, they are in good repair and meet all required safety codes.

How do you find the FCI/RNB for your school? The 'Find Your School' page on the TDSB website is where you can choose the school by name or address. On each individual school web page you will see a 'Renewal Needs Backlog' link in the navigation on the left side of the page. That link will take you directly to the Renewal Needs Backlog (list of school building repairs) and the Facility Condition Index rating. Please note Davisville school does not have an FCI/RNB on its landing page since the school will be rebuilt.

Learn more about the Renewal Needs Backlog and the Facility Condition Index, both of which include related Frequently Asked Questions.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Education released school board data from across the province. As the largest school board in the country with some of the oldest schools, it’s not surprising we’re highest on the FCI list (highest average FCI) released by the province. As noted above a majority of our close to 600 schools were built in the 50’s and 60’s (some over 100 years old) and are showing their age. While we have received substantial new funding from the province, we need predictable, sustainable funding in the years ahead so that we can lower our current $3.4 billion repair backlog. To read the ministry information for all school boards, click on http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/fci.html

Education Development Charges Would Help Reduce Repairs Backlog

TDSB continues to argue for a change to the provincial Education Development Charges (EDCs) legislation to allow all school boards access to EDC revenue for school capital. Current legislation mandates that EDCs can only be used for the purchase of land to support schools in growth areas, not to support the cost of building new schools or renovating/adding onto existing ones. This needs to change to include repairs and renovations to schools throughout Toronto, especially in high residential growth areas. Toronto is one of Canada’s fastest growing cities. Overlooking the use of EDCs to fund badly needed school repairs is a lost opportunity. With access to EDCs for school repairs, millions of dollars in desperately needed revenue could be used to accelerate school repairs and renovations or replacement of older schools. City planning figures indicate that 275,000 residential units are in the building process, which could generate EDC revenue of approximately $300 million in funding for school improvements.

School Repairs Investment Profile (Provincial Government Funding)

2015-16 - $156 million
2016-17 - $166 million
2015-17 – additional funding announced June 27, 2016 - $257 million

What can you do to help with advocacy? Please click on Fix Our Schools.

Update on the Rebuilding of Davisville/Spectrum PS

Over the summer there were a number of positive developments that are providing momentum for the TDSB plans to build a new school to replace the existing Davisville Jr PS/Spectrum Alternative Sr PS building, along with the creation of outdoor play space & related site development. The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has recently approved Snyder Architects, an experienced architectural firm to provide complete architectural services. The Ministry of Education (EDU) has provided approval in principle of the project based on a business case submitted by the Board and provided capital funding for the new school. The new school building will have a Ministry Rated Capacity of 730 pupil places and a maximum gross floor area of approximately 78,712 sf. Note that the proposed School will also include provision for a new Child Care facility. Please see below for a flyer inviting you to come and learn more on September 20.

Thanks to Councillor Josh Matlow, and the tireless efforts of many of you involved in the Midtown Hub, City Council passed a Motion at its July meeting that secured additional funding for the TDSB to construct a three-storey replacement school that will create a smaller footprint and therefore allowing for room on the site for the City to construct a City owned and operated aquatic and community recreation facility. According to the motion, “City Council direct that future non-program budgets include provisions for the disbursement of Sections 37 and 45 funds of $1.000 million in 2017 and $5.807 million in 2018 as grants to the Toronto District School Board to support the design and construction of an additional third floor and the underground garage as part of the Davisville Junior Public School project."

Please see below from Councillor Matlow’s e-newsletter that describes the City’s facility - Midtown Community Hub Approved at City Council!

"I am delighted to announce that, at long last and many years of work, City Council overwhelmingly supported my motion to build a Midtown Community Hub as part of the Davisville PS rebuild. The Hub will provide new and much-needed recreation opportunities for our community including:

A 3-storey, approximately 30,000 square foot city-owned Aquatic Centre
All-purpose community room
Expanded double gym in the new Davisville PS open to community on evenings and weekends

Today’s announcement is a result of over five years of hard work in partnership with the Midtown Hub advocacy group and other local residents/parents, Trustee Laskin, City and TDSB Staff. Construction is expected to start after the new school is completed in 2020. The Midtown Community Hub is a significant part of our strategy to provide more services and public space for our rapidly growing Midtown community-- and comes along with recent Ward 22 parks and playground improvements, new green space acquisitions, affordable childcare spaces and more that we've invested in. I believe that we should be planning for our resident's quality of life in a great community, rather than just more condos. Today, we took an important step forward."

Learn4Life

TDSB has served adults in Toronto for more than 160 years. Today, nearly 30,000 adult learners join 1700 general interest classes to take up a hobby, learn a skill and to meet people in their communities. Registration Opened: August 17th, 2016 Classes Begin: September 17th, 2016. Click here for more information.

Subscribe to our email list.