If the Toronto District School Board hopes to fund a controversial
black-focused school, they're going to have to do it themselves. When trustees voted 11-9 in favour of the concept at a tense meeting Tuesday night, they hoped to open an alternative Afrocentric campus by next September.
But to do it, they'd likely need at least $325,000 from the province. For now, it doesn't appear the Liberals are interested in helping out with any cash contributions. "Any alternative school that the Board decided to set up, they have to fund from within their budget," declares Education Minister Kathleen Wynne. "There won't be any extra funding from the province to fund this school."
Trustee Josh Matlow, who voted against the idea, believes the Board may not be able to afford the plan, because it's already facing a $41 million deficit this year and another big financial gap next year. He doesn't know where the money will come from.
But the Board seems intent on proceeding full steam ahead. At a meeting held Wednesday afternoon, Education Director Gerry Connelly vowed officials will be approaching this divisive issue with extreme care. "Everybody is asking how do we know you will be making a difference and our commitment is to ensure that we all know we are making a difference and why we are making difference," she promises.
What happens next? A survey will go out in March to parents across the city to see who's interested in sending their children to such a school. Then grade levels, curriculum and location will have to be determined.
But don't expect to hear any real specifics until later in the spring. "We will be receiving the many proposals received ... about ways to improve success for black students and in May, we will report back to the board of trustees with an action plan based on their proposals," Connelly explains.
For her part, Wynne hopes the Board has found a solution to the high rate of black students dropping out, but adds the government prefers an "inclusive" answer, noting "our preference would not be to have a separate school."
But despite the minister's seemingly definite pronouncements, Connelly doesn't believe money will be an issue. "That will be part of our budget deliberations and also our dialogue with the province," she vows.
The idea has echoes of the controversy that lost Conservative leader John Tory a chance at the Premier's chair last year. Many groups see the concept of a black-oriented campus as a means to re-open the faith-based school funding debate. Tory insists the people have spoken on that issue and he doesn't intend to raise it again.
But that doesn't mean it's dead. The board has now acknowledged that five more groups are interested in setting up alternative schools.
The head of the board admits Tory's old plan could come back to haunt authorities yet again. "They could come forward, and there's nothing preventing them to come forward," asserts John Campbell. "But again, we would have to determine if they were or were not being successful within the current school system. And clearly, members of the black community felt that their kids were not being successful within our system."