By Rita Trichur
McNabb Park public school could be given a new lease on life because of a contract signed by the City of Ottawa and the now defunct Ottawa Board of Education 33 years ago.
The joint-use property contract doesn’t expire for another 49 years. This means the new Ottawa-Carleton District School Board could be forced to pay for its share of the building’s operation and maintenance costs until 2,019 — whether or not the school is in active use. Patrons would have full access to the gymnasium, main hall, preschool room and community room, spaces shared with the adjoining community centre.
“For many it is their community school and we need to maintain that as a community space,” says Coun. Elisabeth Arnold. “We have already notified them (the school board) that we will be enforcing that legal agreement to the letter of the law.”
However, school board officials indicate the contract may not prevent the school’s closure.
If McNabb Park school closes, the community centre stands to lose much of its client base for popular children’s programs, such as after-school supervision and holiday camps. Without full access to the site’s “joint-use” spaces, more than 300 community centre programs involving 160,000 participants would be restricted, and the city can’t afford to absorb 100 per cent of the site’s operation and maintenance costs to save these programs.
“Schools are very much the centre and hub of the community,” says Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, noting school closures would harm downtown Ottawa’s real estate industry and urban planning. “This is a bigger issue than simply what the school boards deal with.”
McNabb Park is one of four schools where the city and the school board have agreements for joint-use of buildings. The agreement to construct McNabb Park as a joint-use school and community centre was originally signed in 1966 by the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Board of Education.
Under the agreement the school and community centre share designated “joint-use” rooms. The city and the school board split operation and maintenance costs, which include heating, water, electricity, fire alarm, cleaning and periodic upgrades. The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board became a party to the contract after last year’s school board amalgamation.
Albert Chambers, chair of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, says the city’s decision to cite the contract doesn’t necessarily mean the school will be saved. The board could seek an arbitration ruling to get out of their contract with the city.
“We still have a long way to go in looking at the 10 schools slated for closure,” says Chambers. “Certainly there are legal arrangements that we have not yet discussed. We will be discussing them in the next several months. We understand that a problem exists and we will consider that.”
Watson has created a working group made up of the four school board chairs, Regional Chair Bob Chiarelli and chairs of the mayors’ forum, to discuss local school closures. The working group plans to send a delegation to Queen’s Park to request the province’s funding formula be altered to reflect local needs. Watson also invited Education Minister Dave Johnson to visit Ottawa-Carleton schools, to see first-hand the needs of the community.
Under the province’s current funding formula, schools are required to fill 100 per cent of pupil places before any additional money will be given to build new schools.
Arnold says Centretown schools should not be sacrificed in favour of new schools in other communities.
“I represent an inner community that will be gutted in terms of educational facilities,” says Arnold.
“We have been frozen out by a Toronto-centric view of the world. The (education) minister should come back to our community with a response that meets the needs of our community.”