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GUILDWOOD PARC UPDATE #3

As promised, I am sending out more information about the Guildwood Pupil Accommodation Review for Elizabeth Simcoe Jr. P.S. Guildwood Jr. P.S., Jack Miner Sr. P.S., and Poplar Road Jr. P.S. as it becomes available.

I have met with three of the School Councils to share the recommendations of the Local Feasibility Team and am meeting with the Poplar Rd Council early in the New Year.

The PARC has been approved and now the formation of the committee is undertaken.

Each of the schools in the study will be allowed to send 4 parent representatives to the working committee. These parents will be appointed by their school councils in collaboration with the principals. (However, if any of the four schools are unable to recruit 4 parents to participate, all schools will be limited to the number of the lowest school.) All participants are required to commit to attend all of the working committee and public meetings.

The Superintendent of Education, Kerry-Lynn Stadnyk, will chair the process or select a facilitator to do so. For this PARC, retired Superintendent Nadine Segal has been selected as the facilitator. She is very experienced and was involved in the PARC process for Sir Robert L Borden BTI, West Hill CI, Maplewood HS and Sir Wilfrid Laurier CI.

The procedure calls for 2 high schools students and one non-involved Principal to take part. We have increased the number of students from two to three. They will be students of Sir Wilfrid Laurier C.I. with each one being a graduate of one of the three junior schools in the process. The Toronto Schools Administrators Association has put out a call for volunteers for the role of non-involved Principal.

I have been able to get permission to include a representative of the Guildwood Village Community Association as a full participant, non-voting member of the PARC. Angela Vanderburg has been nominated by the Association and will, pending ratification of the executive, represent the GVCA. The local Trustee is also a non-voting, ad hoc member of the committee.

Dates and location of the Public Community Meetings

1. Tuesday, February 21, 2017 @ Sir Wilfrid Laurier CI (Auditorium) Meeting 6:30pm to 8:30pm

2. Tuesday, May 2, 2017 @ Sir Wilfrid Laurier CI (Auditorium) Meeting 6:30pm to 8:30pm

3. If needed, an additional Public Community Meeting will be held Thursday, April 20, 2017 @ Sir Wilfrid Laurier CI (Library & Auditorium) 6:30 to 8:30 pm

I need to reiterate that the recommendations of the Local Feasibility Team are just that, recommendations, as required by the Board’s and Ministry policies. Many PARC processes have changed the initial recommendations of the Local Feasibility Team's previous PARC processes. The Board of Trustees at their June 2017 meeting will make the final decisions based on the final recommendations of the PARC.

The PARC process provides the committee and the public community an opportunity to influence and change the outcomes before they go to the Board.

I strongly encourage you to participate in the public meetings and, if appropriate, make deputations to the Board’s committees. I will provide the details of how to make a deputation and the dates of the committee meetings in future updates.

I have received numerous communications about the disposition of properties if schools are closed and the properties declared surplus to the needs of the Board. I have suggested that Board staff consider retaining the Jack Miner building and property and repurpose it for other uses. I have heard rumours of low rental housing and condominiums being put up on the properties. I want to reassure you that no such decision has or can be made. That would not be a TDSB decision. This is all governed by provincial regulation 444/98 and there is a very strict process that must be followed.

Please see below for the details of the TDSB policy and the regulation. If properties are declared surplus, further public consultations will take place.

Pursuant to Section 194(3) of the Education Act, the TDSB may from time to time, declare property surplus to needs of the Board by way of a resolution and refer any such property to the TLC (Toronto Lands Corporation) for disposition with a set of property-specific disposition parameters.

TLC then takes action by circulating the site(s) pursuant to Ontario Regulation 444/98 to Public Agencies for a 90-day period. If one of the public agencies expresses interest in purchasing the property (at fair market value) they have an additional 90 days to submit a firm offer to purchase. Public agencies include Co-terminus School Boards, Colleges & Universities, City of Toronto and various other agencies. Following the 90-day (plus 90 days for offers) circulation period, the public offering closes. If during this period, an offer to purchase is received by TLC, the TLC will enter into negotiations with a public agency. If no offer is received or negotiations fail, TLC will proceed to dispose of the property on the open market.

To see all the details about Regulation 444/98 please go to https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/980444

Questions and comments can be sent via email to jerry.chadwick@tdsb.on.ca.

Please watch for further updates in the New Year. Feel free to share this with other community members who are not on the mailing list.

Have a very happy and safe holiday season and a prosperous, peaceful 2017.

- Jerry

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