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With funding provided by the Ontario Ministry of Education through this initiative, TDSB has opened the doors of 77 schools to provide not-for-profit organisations and groups, free after-hours access to school facilities in communities that need it most.

From this TDSB webpage, you can access info on a number of subjects including the new Priority School Initiatiave (PSI- free permits after school in 77 TDSB schools). This section of the site also lists the names and links to the 4 new Community Use of Schools Facilitators.

Social Planning Toronto hosted a lively discussion back in September on the issue of public use of schools, community hubs and school board processes in school closure situations. The audience included not only students and community members, but also a number of senior politicians and school trustees. Here we present the slides from the presentation of Ranu Basu, from the Geography Department at York University, who has mapped school closings and analyzed for spatial justice.

The objective of the 2009 edition of the Focus on Youth program is to enhance high quality summer program opportunities for children and youth in Toronto’s high need areas by offering free use of school space for organized community-based programs.

77 Toronto District School Board schools identified for free use by Not-For-Profit organizations.

At the request of the premier in 2008 Curling and McMurtry delved into the “Roots of Youth Violence”.

2009 SPACE Report – Progress and Pitfalls: A Review of Community Use of Schools and Access to Municipal Spaces details the current status of the Community Use of Schools program.

People for Education’s 2009 Annual Report on Ontario’s Public Schools, recommends Ontario expand its vision for education beyond test score targets and graduation rates.

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