Entries Tagged 'General News' ↓

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.

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

FROM THE SCARBOROUGH MIRROR NEWSPAPER:

Thomson site likely to be sold as part of plan 

By DANIELLE MILLEY – February 5, 2009

Change is on the horizon for secondary schools in Scarborough. 

Wednesday night the Toronto District School Board passed staff’s recommendation to consolidate Bendale Business and Technical Institute and David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute into one school that would be housed in a renovated Bendale. 

The recommendations were based on a report done by the accommodation review committee considering what should be done with Bendale, Thomson and Donwood Park Public School. 

The committee recommended a kindergarten to Grade 12 campus on the 38-acre property (that also includes Highbrook Learning Centre) with the surplus land to be sold to pay for the new school. 

Based on costs consideration, staff recommended the board renovate Donwood and change it from a kindergarten to Grade 6 to a K-8 school, while a deep retrofit be undertaken at Bendale. 

“It will still be a brand new state of the art facility,” said Ward 19 (Scarborough Centre) Trustee Scott Harrison, who initiated the process. “Would it be nice to have a brand new facility? Sure, but we also have to look at the cost to taxpayers.” 

He said the board will work with the foundation on site to create the best learning facility for students. He cited other examples of deep retrofits that were complete make overs including Cedarbrae Mall and the Royal Ontario Museum. “When these buildings are done they are brand new facilities,” he said. 

The site that contains the four schools is bordered by Lawrence, Dorcot and Midland avenues. With Bendale being recommended as the site of the consolidated secondary school, it is likely a portion of land fronting Lawrence Avenue be deemed surplus and sold. 

Harrison said this is not the end of the journey, but the beginning of the second part as design work will need to be done, as well as program planning for the new secondary school. More community input will be sought. “We’ll be hosting a couple of community meetings to allow the community to participate in a design charette,” he said. 

A plan for what would happen during construction would also have to be determined – would students attend Thomson while Bendale is renovated or would another surplus school in the area be used during construction, and what would happen during the construction at Donwood are some of the questions facing the board. 

Harrison said it would probably be a year before any shovels hit the ground.

Another secondary school in Scarborough could face closure. A report from the Timothy Eaton Business and Technical Institute accommodation review committee was also part of Wednesday night’s agenda (it will be received as information next week as the board didn’t get to it) that recommended the closure of the school.

“These recommendations will now go to the director’s office and from there go to the board to vote,” said Ward 20 (Scarborough-Agincourt) Trustee Soo Wong, who stressed it is just a recommendation at this point and no decision has been made.

The report also recommended a centre of specialization be created using the existing school facility. It would operate either as a stand alone centre or in a campus relationship with one or more of the seven surrounding collegiates; it would cater primarily to Grade 11 and 12 students.

The ARC process was begun in order to address declining enrolment and to offer the best possible programming to students.