Neediest to pay the price of school closures
October 28, 2009
Louise Brown
EDUCATION REPORTER
A majority of the Toronto schools recommended for review due to falling enrolment are among the most needy in the city – sparking fears that school closures could hit poor kids the hardest.
Of the 36 school sites in eight neighbourhoods recommended for "accommodation review committees" that Toronto public school trustees must approve by Wednesday evening, 26 score on the top half of the "Learning Opportunities Index," the provincial poverty yardstick used to measure the needs of each school's population, from family income and parents' education to the percentage of those who live in apartments, are single-parent families or are new to Canada – all of which are seen as risk-factors to learning.
Twenty of the schools score in the top third of the index, and 16 score among the most needy 25 per cent.
"You have to be really, really careful to consider the demographics of school closings, because schools in these neighbourhoods have all sorts of after-school homework clubs and sports and services that you would be taking away from the community," says Ranu Basu, geography professor at York University, whose research has shown poor neighbourhoods often lose their schools more than richer areas.
One of the areas on Toronto's proposed list is the Jane-Finch community, where all five schools recommended for review rank among the most needy 60 of the board's 475 elementary schools.
"Are these schools being targeted because they are poor? I don't believe that, but on the other hand, maybe they should get community workers to help them on these committees," said Trustee Sheila Cary-Meagher, who spearheaded the Model Schools Initiative, which gives extra resources to most of the schools in this neighbourhood.
Professor David Clandfield of the University of Toronto studies the schools as community hubs, which is another principle trustees will be voting on Wednesday.
"I find it a tremendously conflicting message for the board to be talking about creating full-service schools by putting family services and health clinics into unused space – and then consider closing the schools with unused space in the neighbourhoods that need them most," Clandfield said.
"It's imperative to create these hubs in communities of the poor and marginalized, where these services are often pretty thin on the ground."
Trustees will be voting on a range of initiatives proposed by new education director Chris Spence, from the eight accommodation review committees to five redevelopment projects that could include partnerships with private developers. The board will also be asked to endorse targets for reducing violence.
Toronto Star