Planned School Closures by the TDSB

Johnny Au · Feb 2, 2015

Read here: http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/...hat-could-close-or-have-boundary-changes.html and here: http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/...ind-the-schools-on-the-closings-hit-list.html

There are quite a number of schools slated for closure due to low enrolment. For example, Nelson A Boylen CI is slated to be closed for good in the foreseeable future, especially given its extremely low enrolment. My former high school, Vaughan Road Academy, may be slated to close as well.

Note that Briar Hill Public School closed down a few years ago due to low enrolment and its age and is now demolished.

Admiral Beez · Feb 2, 2015

Interesting, Nelson Mandela PS has less than 50% enrollment. And why did the school board just spend over $28 million to reno the place? Let's hope Regent Park's rebuild brings more kids.

GenerationW · Feb 2, 2015

Admiral Beez said:
Interesting, Nelson Mandela PS has less than 50% enrollment. And why did the school board just spend over $28 million to reno the place? Let's hope Regent Park's rebuild brings more kids.

Apparently it's projected to pass 90% in less than a decade.

salsa · Feb 2, 2015

I hope that any decisions to close down schools will consider future population growth. Schools with low enrolment today may not necessarily remain that way over time.

Johnny Au · Feb 3, 2015

salsa said:
I hope that any decisions to close down schools will consider future population growth. Schools with low enrolment today may not necessarily remain that way over time.

Unfortunately, the city of York's student population is dropping (and is the only former municipality to have a dropping population overall), which is why Vaughan Road Academy is projected to remain well below 50% in the next few decades (and the TDSB decided to sell off the Briar Hill school site to townhouse developers (including demolishing the school)).

I hope that the former city of York have its population rebound in the near future.

The main reason why Forest Hill CI have overcapacity enrolment is because many parents perceive it as a good high school.

Palma · Feb 3, 2015

Johnny Au said:
Unfortunately, the city of York's student population is dropping (and is the only former municipality to have a dropping population overall), which is why Vaughan Road Academy is projected to remain well below 50% in the next few decades (and the TDSB decided to sell off the Briar Hill school site to townhouse developers (including demolishing the school)).

I hope that the former city of York have its population rebound in the near future.

The main reason why Forest Hill CI have overcapacity enrolment is because many parents perceive it as a good high school.

But you need to live within school boundaries to go to a school and depending on enrolment, then the school can be opened to optional attendance (meaning it's not your home school but attendance at the school allows the school to take students not within its boundaries because they have room).

Johnny Au · Feb 3, 2015

Palma said:
But you need to live within school boundaries to go to a school and depending on enrolment, then the school can be opened to optional attendance (meaning it's not your home school but attendance at the school allows the school to take students not within its boundaries because they have room).

Well then, even within Forest Hill's school boundary is the school overcrowded.

Some schools have overlapping boundaries. The perception of good schools is still there, even within the school's boundaries.

Suppose one were a parent of teens and one were to live within the boundaries of one school perceived to be good and another perceived to be bad. Guess which school the parent chooses.

salsa · Feb 3, 2015

Tory wants a say in sale of Toronto school board schools

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...e-of-tdsb-schools/article22755216/?cmpid=rss1

Riverdale Rink Rat · Feb 3, 2015

salsa said:
Tory wants a say in sale of Toronto school board schools

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...e-of-tdsb-schools/article22755216/?cmpid=rss1

The article is actually a bit more positive than the headline -- I was rolling my eyes at the thought of another meddling politician gumming up another set of works -- but really, the board members can pretty much be counted on to gum up everything on their own.

In Riverdale, Blake/EAST should have been closed and the kids sent to Pape eons ago. The compound which is Queen Alex and Dundas/First Nations could also use some thoughtful re-jigging, I'm sure. Eastern Commerce would actually make a great condo, IMHO. And all of that would basically not change the walking time for any of the kids in the area, as there are lots of surplus buildings.

James · Feb 3, 2015

So is it just a case of families having fewer children these days or is it because fewer kids are going to public school?

Palma · Feb 3, 2015

James said:
So is it just a case of families having fewer children these days or is it because fewer kids are going to public school?

Well today obviously people do not have 9 kids or even 4 or 5. It obviously makes sense there are less students in the TDSB today due to this fact. But then again, if whatever the pop of Toronto is today, if it increases in 5-10 years so you now have more people, even if they only have 2 kids, you will have more kids in the system overall. When parents have children out of the system and they are now off to college or university, they will not up and move and make room in those neighbourhoods for younger families having kids. So those school in those areas will also have less students

rbt · Feb 3, 2015

James said:
So is it just a case of families having fewer children these days or is it because fewer kids are going to public school?

Different age mix of people in single-detached housing is one big cause. General gentrification is another (fewer kids per family).

The people that started families 30 years ago are still there, but they are now approaching 60 and their kids moved on long ago to start their own family in another (likely 905) location.

Johnny Au · Feb 5, 2015

The peak number of students in Toronto (present boundaries) was approximately 270,000. Now, there are approximately 170,000 students, which meant that the TDSB has many surplus properties, mainly due to demographic shift.

Generally, as a woman becomes more educated, she would prefer to give birth to fewer children.

nfitz · Feb 5, 2015

Johnny Au said:
The peak number of students in Toronto (present boundaries) was approximately 270,000. Now, there are approximately 170,000 students, which meant that the TDSB has many surplus properties, mainly due to demographic shift.

Something seems wrong with those numbers. The city reported in 2011 that the population aged 5 to 19 was about 410,000. And only 170,000 students?

Johnny Au · Feb 5, 2015

nfitz said:
Something seems wrong with those numbers. The city reported in 2011 that the population aged 5 to 19 was about 410,000. And only 170,000 students?

Read here: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...-discussion-about-surplus-schools-keenan.html

It says that there were around 270,000 students at its peak in 1971, as compared with approximately 170,000 students today.

The figure of 410,000 includes those who attend Catholic schools, as well as private schools and French-language schools.

Planned School Closures by the TDSB

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