A news column in the Toronto Sun, February 5, 2010, sheds light on the challenges faced by TDSB officials and trustees regarding re-development of the Thomson-Bendale property:

As far as worries about what trustees have to “sell” back to closure communities, the problem is the board has no money to build anything. It owes $62 million it borrowed starting five years ago to deal with dire repairs — like caving in walls. The provincial government wants that paid back, or at least a pay-back plan, before it lets the TDSB go out and borrow even more money for these community “reinvestments.”

Case in point, the board approved a plan a year ago — worked out by one central Scarborough school neighbourhood — to consolidate Bendale and Thomson high schools into one, sell some land and use the savings to finance a better, single school. A year later and that community is wondering what’s happening — no kidding. If things went ahead it would be a PR win for the board and government and probably ease the reluctance of other neighbourhoods to talk about closures.

See the full Toronto Sun news column here.

Board needs ministry approval before Thomson-Bendale changes can begin

BY DANIELLE MILLEY – As published in the Scarborough Mirror, January 27, 2010:

It’s been a year since the Toronto District School Board decided to consolidate David and Mary Thomson CI and Bendale BTI, but money is keeping the project from moving forward.

Trustee Scott Harrison sent out a letter last week to update the community on the status of the Bendale/Thomson/Edgewood Public School/Donwood Park Public School ARC (Accommodation Review Committee) and the work that has taken place since the board’s approval of the ARC recommendations last February.

The committee had recommended, among other things, that Donwood be converted from a JK-Grade 6 to a JK-Grade 8, the BTI (business and technical institute) model be disbanded at Bendale, and a secondary school with programming appropriate for all destinations be established. The revamped elementary and high school would be housed in existing buildings that would undergo extensive renovations to accommodate the change.

Unfortunately because of a “funding challenge” the board has been unable to move forward with design work and other planning details.

“We’re still working at the financial piece. We need to get approval from the ministry to move forward,” Harrison said in an interview.

Because the school board is dealing with a debt of about $60 million, it needs to get approval from the province before it could incur any additional debt to finance the retrofits.

“We’ve been working with the ministry on the plans to move forward with Bendale-Thomson, but it’s been taking a lot longer than we thought,” he said.

The TDSB has prepared a plan detailing how it intends to clear its deficit and a meeting should take place in the next week or so to share that plan with the ministry.

Until that time, further work such as design details can not be done on the project, and this includes determining for sure which of the secondary sites will be redeveloped and house the new school (though Bendale has been talked about as the preferred site).

Once this decision has been made, the surplus part of the property can be sold to help finance the project.

Harrison said he’s had just a few inquiries about the progress of the project, but he knows how important it is to continue the work on this project.

“The reality is we need to get moving on this so we can have the school built and ready for students,” he said. “The board decided to do it and the longer we decide not to do it, it’s a disservice to the students of today and tomorrow.”

Dianne Wilson-Sweet is a parent of a Grade 12 student at Thomson and she was on the ARC committee. She said the community is being kept up-to-date on what’s happening and she’s not surprised things are moving a little slower than everyone hoped.

“From the perspective of the community waiting to see it happen, everyone is still gung-ho,” she said “It would be nicer to see it go faster.”

The ARC committee put a lot of hard work into its report so they wouldn’t want the board to rush the planning or construction, Wilson-Sweet said.

Harrison said the timeline has always been that the school would be completed sometime between 2012 and 2014. With an estimate of one year for design work and one year for construction the project is still on schedule despite the delay.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP – The official form for your 2009/10 DMT Alumni Association membership is now available for download (in PDF format) – Please print the form and mail it with your $10 payment today.

1 – The Souvenir Booklets are in the mail! For those who ordered booklets from our second printing, they were mailed out on Friday, July 24. They should arrive some time in the following week. We hope you enjoy having a second reunion as you browse through the pages. Let us know if your booklet doesn’t arrive in the next couple of weeks.

2 – The Alumni Committee are also planning to send out a special anniversary edition of Thomson Tradewinds, the Alumni Newsletter, with reports and especially photos from the big day, May 2. Usually the newsletter goes out only to paid-up members of the Alumni. However, we are hoping to expand the mailing this time to include anyone who ordered souvenirs or Embers tickets for the reunion. If you want to be sure of receiving a copy of this 8-page full-colour souvenir and you are not already an Alumni member, we invite you to join by filling in the membership form which is available on this web-site or attached to this message (depending on where you read it first) and following the instructions on the form.

We also invite any of you who have special photos from the reunion that you would like us to consider including in the newsletter to email them in jpg format to stanleyfarrow@rogers.com or to rdoi@toyota.ca. We want the newsletter to capture as much of the excitement as possible, so don’t be shy!

Gift presentation to reunion committee chair, Stanley Farrow, at the stage celebration (click image for close-up)

Please leave your post-reunion remarks (click ‘comments’ below) and let’s keep the conversation going! All persons who leave comments will receive follow-up news by e-mail very shortly from the Alumni committee about future plans for this web site.

FROM THE SCARBOROUGH MIRROR NEWSPAPER:

Fifty-year-old school slated for demolition

By DANIELLE MILLEY – April 27, 2009

With the building facing near certain demolition, the 50th anniversary celebrations of David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute is a bittersweet reunion. The anniversary celebrations and reunion take place Saturday, May 2 with an open house at the school, a staff lunch and an evening pub night.

The reunion comes just three months after the Toronto District School Board decided in February to endorse a report recommending the consolidation of Bendale Business and Technical Institute and Thomson, with the Bendale location selected as the preferred site for the renovated school.

“It’s probably going to be the last chance to get together in the old building,” said Stan Farrow of the reunion. He is the chair of the reunion committee. Farrow began his teaching career at Thomson the year it opened in 1959 and stayed there for his 35-year career. When he retired, the auditorium was renamed in his honour. He is looking forward to seeing former students, as well as teachers he taught with over the years. He said most of the first teaching staff were just young rookies so many will be able to make it to the celebrations.

The open house at the school, located at 2740 Lawrence Ave. E, is from 1 to 4:30 p.m. All are invited to drop by and find former classmates, teammates and teachers at the celebration. There will be decade rooms so graduates can find pictures from their era whether they went to Thomson in 1965 or 1995. There will be an official program in the auditorium from 2 to 2:30 p.m. Before the open house there will be a lunch for current and former staff – teaching, caretaking, office, auxiliary. It takes place at 11 a.m. and tickets are $20. On Saturday evening there will be a pub night at Embers Banquet Hall, 781 Warden Ave., from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. This evening will give people a chance to mingle and reminisce about their high schools days. Tickets are $20 and include hot and cold finger foods; there will be a cash bar.

While the reunion might be one of the last chances for former staff and students to wander around the school, area Trustee Scott Harrison said the name will live on. “The name David and Mary Thomson will stay around,” he said. “The school, as far as I’m concerned, will always be named David and Mary Thomson.” The board has not made a decision about a possible closure date as it is still in the preliminary design stage.

For more information about the anniversary celebrations or to purchase tickets, visit www.thomsonforever.ca