REPRESENTING TORONTO CITY COUNCIL:

Councillors: Anne Johnston, Michael Walker, Howard Moscoe, and for Joe Mihevic, Sean Hill, EA.

REPRESENTING TORONTO DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD [TDSB]:

Trustees: Kathleen Wynne, Ward 8, Vice-Chair TDSB Budget Committee, Shelley Laskin, Trustee Ward 11, Chair TDSB Budget Committee

REPRESENTING THE POPULATION OF NORTH TORONTO:

About 70 members of the general public

1. POOLS

Trustee Wynne outlined the background and current situation on pool funding. Both Councillors and citizens at the Assembly forcefully supported the need to keep all pools open, including the need to press on the provincial & possibly federal governments for funding.

CURRENT SITUATION: [for updates regarding the pool issue see the TDSB website, www.tdsb.on.ca]

The educational & teaching funds for pool programs are available. The issue is funding for maintenance & operational costs.

The 84 school pools can be divided into three categories: those used by both schools & the city [47 for which the annual operating cost is $6.3MM]; those used in excess of 40 hours a week [23], & those used for less than 40 hours a week [14, all of which are in the old City of Toronto]. Operating costs for these last 2 categories are $5.4MM per year. All programs at city pools have waiting lists & therefore no unused capacity.
TDSB has asked for expressions of interest from groups interested in leasing school pools.
Of 173 respondents to a survey by Trustee Wynne, 166 strongly opposed closing any pools. A strong majority also stated that schools are a community asset & life centres in our city. Many suggested student user fees be considered as a last resort.
Key points of current proposals on the table to keep open as many school pools as possible are:

· City Council: Increase its base contribution for school pool operation of $3.1mm by $3.2mm for a total contribution of $6.3 for the 2002 fiscal year to keep the 47 joint use pools open. The TDSB in return would close some of the pools with lower utilization rates.

· TDSB: Accept City funding of $6.3MM on a 2-year agreement basis for the 47 joint programming schools; find funds to operate the remaining 37 pools including increasing permit usage; apply City & TDSB pressure on the Province to fund the swimming pools.

2. TDSB’s “THE NEED TO SUCCEED BUDGET”:

Trustees Laskin & Wynne outlined the reasons for, and process which led to, this budget’s creation. Both trustees support this approach so that the TDSB can demonstrate to the community the drastic gap between what is needed to allow the TDSB to meet its responsibilities and what is currently available to run the schools in our city. This budget, if adopted, will also be used to inform the provincial government of the adverse effects its current funding formula is having on our students and their futures. The large majority of those present strongly endorsed the TDSB’s approach and urged our trustees to continue with it. All information about this budget, including an executive summary, full supporting details and daily updates on the board’s activities concerning it are available at the TDSB’s web site, which is www.tdsb.on.ca. All public meetings/consultations will also be posted there.