SCHOOL FUNDING
Board chair eyes sale of head office
February 8, 2010
Kristin Rushowy
EDUCATION REPORTER
Could Toronto's public school board be on the move?
Chair Bruce Davis says its head offices at 5050 Yonge St. – north of Sheppard Ave. at Mel Lastman Square – "have significant development potential and I would very much like to see us release this value so that we can invest necessary resources" into schools.
In a letter released Thursday, he asks four trustees – members of the "administrative space work group," struck one year ago – to meet as soon as possible "to consider the matter of selling or redeveloping our head office" which includes the "adjacent properties" under Mel Lastman Square.
"Our head office is sitting on a valuable piece of property and we have to take a long hard look at selling or redeveloping the site," Davis said in an interview. "We need to raise capital dollars to invest in our schools."
Given the board will be discussing a three- to five-year capital plan starting this April, Davis hopes 5050 Yonge can be included at that time.
When the board voted to sell its downtown headquarters in 2002, almost half of trustees walked out of the meeting in disgust. One trustee even organized a candlelight vigil. Critics complained that by leaving 155 College St. – a stone's throw from the provincial legislature – the board would become invisible, not to mention inaccessible to the public.
Some were also critical of the $16.8 million sale price to the University of Toronto, saying it was about half the property's value. Others said the funds were desperately needed to pay for the upkeep of schools.
Davis does not expect the same public outcry this time.
"I don't think there will be any vigil for 5050 Yonge when and if we leave it," he said.
Davis says in his letter that the board has a $2.8 billion deferred maintenance backlog.
He also said the 5050 Yonge site could be the future home of a school. North Toronto Collegiate, near Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave., is being rebuilt after the board sold off a parcel of land to a condo developer.
Toronto Star