The Ford government wants power to force school boards to share space. How could that work?

These 900 students attend two different schools, run by two different boards, but all learn in the same building.

Although they have their own entrances, their classrooms are on the same floors and they share a gym, stage, and library.

It takes organization and collaboration from Toronto’s public and Catholic boards to keep things running smoothly, because the CityPlace setup, located near Spadina Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard West, also includes a city community center and care childish.

It is a model that the provincial government seeks to replicate, and in some cases force, under new legislation that would allow the education minister to mandate that boards share space, while fostering better coordination and alliances with municipalities.

“It actually gives schools access to facilities that we normally wouldn’t have,” said interim principal Lorraine Van Zon of Bishop Macdonell Catholic School, which sits on the same site as Jean Lumb Public School in the Canoe Landing project. .

“A school has a gym; here we have a lower gym and an upper gym, and the upper gym is divided into two separate spaces… Being connected to the city gives us more resources” and schools are often included in the city. activities like gardening projects, she added.

There are about 40 shared-space situations across the province, including the Renfrew County School Board District Whitney Public School which for the past six years has operated under the same roof as St. Martin’s of Tours Catholic Elementary School . That partnership allows Whitney students to attend classes close to home and not have to travel more than half an hour by bus to Barry’s Bay, as was considered at one time.

The province is consulting on changes to its recently proposed Bill 98, The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, which would give the province expanded powers over school board matters in everything from the sale of surplus property to the student performance goals.

The new legislation, introduced last Monday, would give the education minister the power to “direct two or more boards to enter into an agreement with each other for the joint construction, ownership, control, administration, maintenance, operation, location, or use of a school site, part of a school site, or other property of a board.”

While the boards say they are not opposed to such projects, the government’s move has raised concerns.

“We are willing to engage in discussions where it makes sense…but mixing and sharing is just one way to solve some of the problems,” said Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association, urging the government to lift its ban. . on closing schools to allow boards to better manage those who are not enrolled.

“That will be part of our feedback for the consultations,” Abraham added. “This is part of why it is important to have locally elected trustees. We know our communities and we believe that we are the best people to make those kinds of decisions.”

On Monday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce noted that there have been “many examples of boards that may not have been as collaborative as they should be, given that the taxpayer paid for the asset, for the school. So it’s about reimagining how we repurpose our schools for learning and how we ultimately make sure schools are more available in communities, particularly growing communities that need schools yesterday.”

He said the boards will also have to work with their municipalities.

“I require some kind of collaboration with school boards to work together… (to) break down the silos,” Lecce told reporters.

Patrick Daly, president of the Ontario Association of Catholic School Trustees, said he was pleased to see the legislation recognize the constitutional denominational rights of Catholic school boards, addressing concerns about the loss of the Catholic system with such changes, and thanks consultations “because obviously the details matter a lot”.

Currently, there are a few different models of shared spaces, including a combination of high school and public library, or a school and a community pool.

“There are a number of examples across the province where Catholic boards have moved forward, and it has been beneficial… and there is also sharing between French and English boards,” he said.

Pino Buffone, director of education for the Renfrew County public board, said talks with the Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic board began when they each ran an elementary school in Whitney, located about a mile away, and both weren’t enrolled.

“It may be on multiple fronts that you consider sharing spaces,” Buffone said. “And that’s where the Whitney community said, ‘All the kids know each other here, and instead of putting them on the bus to Barry’s Bay, would the board consider any other alternative?’ And that’s when boards can get into this kind of conversation.”

Because the Catholic grammar school was the better facility, the Whitney School building was reclaimed for a health care facility, and the Whitney School became a tenant in nearby St. Martin’s.

The roughly 75 students — that’s the total, at both schools — share the same entrance, which has images of the cross. Public students have a principal and their own office staff, but the hours of the two schools are quite similar.

Sometimes staff collaborate, perhaps by sharing a big ride, but “in general, respecting each district’s way of doing things.”

Assemblies may overlap, or a recent school-wide focus on kindness, but anything with religious overtones is for St. Martin students only.

The only challenge that arose was with transportation, since Renfrew County shares transportation with another Catholic board whose boundaries overlap more closely, so there were days when transportation was canceled for Whitney students, but not for St. Martin.

At Bishop Macdonell, students have different start, lunch and dismissal times than at Jean Lumb. Administrators meet monthly to brainstorm and collaborate.

“I will say that all partners need to be highly organized,” Director Van Zon said. “But with that organization, you have the benefits of using everyone’s brains and skills… It’s quite charming.”

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