Schools as Community Hubs Nov 09

Hubs for All: Merging Education and Community in Everybody’s Schools Toronto District School Board Inner City Advisory Committee November 17, 2009 _____________________________________________ Presentation by David Clandfield

Hubs for All: Merging Education and Community in Everybody’s Schools
Everybody likes hubs
What exactly is a hub?
Barriers & solutions: school
Barriers & solutions: board
Barriers & solutions: local government
Getting from here to there
Beyond the fixed hub: the next generation

1. Everybody Likes Hubs Hubs: only the name is new Early 1990s: “integrated services” watchword (MoE) 1980s: Inner City project schools (Toronto) 1970s: school daycare and the seamless day 1960s: the Community School which began in the 1930s: variants of the urban neighbourhood school 1920s: the progressive schools and John Dewey Always: village schools, North and South

1. Everybody Likes Hubs Ontario supporters (2005-09) A recent list

1. Everybody Likes Hubs Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty Dr. Charles Pascal With Our Best Future in Mind Dr. Chris Spence, TDSB Director of Education

1. Everybody Likes Hubs Common Points
Most propose both a school-level and a municipal level of governance and decision-making
Most recommend intergovernmental co-operation without proposing a clear alternative to the current model
Some do insist on the role of school hubs in community development
None (except the last) insists on the integration of school and community in the curriculum (see Dr. Spence Full-Service Schools , TDSB, 2009)

The hub spectrum
Community Use of Schools - permit system *
Parallel Use or Shared Use - time share system *
Co-location of community services - planned partnership **
Full-service schools - integrated service provision **
Full community hub school - full two-way relationship ***
* - market-driven model
** - public policy model
*** - civil society model
2. What Exactly is a Hub?

school community The City The Region daycare food health intergenerational learning centres sports fitness recreation culture performing arts visual arts food kitchen garden daycare + family services environmental showplaces waste, transport, snow, leaves green energy public mental adult ed settlement solar wind local history neighbourhood library geothermal

Schools and Gardens School garden, Bridgenorth Elementary, Ont., 1920 Footprint garden (FoodShare), James S Bell School, Toronto Eco-Platinum School, Rose Avenue, Toronto Green Thumbs/Growing Kids at Winchester School, Toronto

Firgrove Public School Toronto Schools with Community Kitchens Willow Park Public School Nelson Mandela Park Public School

France: Institutionalizing Gastronomy
Taste education in French national elementary curriculum since 1974
Community dimension: National Tasting Week in Oct. since 1989
Incorporated as a feature of national arts heritage in schools in 2000
Schools as food hubs

Intergenerational Learning Centres In 2009, Buena Vista P.S., Colorado Springs, first closed, then resurrected as the New West Center for Intergenerational Learning Intergenerational Learning Center, West Seattle since 1991 2009: Lochrie report in UK recommends that Sure Start children’s centres evolve into intergenerational learning centres** **NB. A Sure Start model has been proposed in the Pascal report, but not the intergenerational dimension Reading Angels Baycrest School, Toronto Toronto Intergenerational Partnerships Volunteers in 100+ TDSB schools

Photovoltaic panels here reversed unpopular closing and became an Energy Hub - geothermal heating system with Gas Tax Fund grant Wind turbine, solar panels and… Schools as energy hubs Green roof Abbotsford Middle School, B.C. Wells-Barkerville Elementary School, B.C. Island Public/Natural Science School Jackman Public School TDSB bicycle energy

B.C. Neighbourhoods of Learning New elementary school and multipurpose complex Instructional space for 50 (!) students Community Kitchen Community Library Seniors’ meeting room Teen room Neighbourhood Centres for Learning and Development Port Clements, B.C. Vancouver School Board, B.C. - 2009 Pilot Projects

Full community hub embodies a 2-way process
Hubs facilitate , integrate and strengthen community development
Hubs facilitate, integrate and strengthen Learning for All
In the full community hub (Hub 2.0)
Education supports community development
Community development supports education
And as a pillar of civil society
It has a strong measure of local initiative and decision-making

All schools and communities benefit from hubs
But, which communities benefit most from hubs?
Those who have least resources to begin with
Those who include most newcomers
Those who are most dissociated from school curriculum
Those who differ socio-economically and culturally most from school staff

Social difference
2. What Exactly is a Hub? “ Inner City” communities benefit from hubs Least resources Newcomers Alienation more community-building resources welcome and settlement language accommodation, community projects
intergenerational programs, teachers in community
Greater integration of teachers and communities Locally engaged curriculum

As schools close, others take the displaced students: When a neighbourhood school closes, a hub is lost, so a community suffers, especially a disadvantaged one. When a neighbourhood schools reduces hub space, a community suffers, especially a disadvantaged one. 2. What Exactly is a Hub?

Appian P.S. Closed 1996 Private School East Don River Railway

Page P.S. closed in 1981 East Don River East Don River Private School

3. Barriers and Solutions: School Barrier : Separated Sharing
Child Learners - Adult Learners
Day School - Night Classes
Teachers - Support and Maintenance Staff
School Staff - Community Members
Security Concerns

3. Barriers and Solutions: School Solutions? Platforms for Hubs in the TDSB

Solution A. The Purpose-Built Community School

Solution B. The Purpose-Built Co-Location Humberwood Downs & Holy Child

Solution C. The Eco-School Jackman P.S.

Solution D. The Model School (Heart of the Community) Public Art Stonemasque Mosaics Willow Park JPS Somali Women and Childrens Network Settlement Worker Public Health Kingsview Village JS

4. Barriers and Solutions: Board Examples of Policies and Practices as Barriers
Permit criteria
Grounds
Pools
Catering Facilities
Solution: review each for curriculum development potential

4. Barriers and Solutions: Board Examples of Policies and Practices as Barriers
User Fees
Green Energy
ARCs
Solution: review in light of the importance of community development

5. Barriers and Solutions: Local Govt. Provincially Controlled Barriers
Insufficient provincial support, broken formula
Local responsibility without taxation at school board
Huge maintenance backlog on school sites
Provincial incentives to dispose of “surplus” school sites
Separation of municipal council and school board powers

5. Barriers and Solutions: Local Govt. Solutions: The Challenges
Strengthen local government
Maintain public assets for continuing public use
Bring taxation and decision-making together
Empower communities to develop themselves
Improve links at the local level

5. Barriers and Solutions: Local Govt. European Decentralization Models: Positives and Negatives
Local education authorities replaced school boards in 1902 (UK)
Schools come under local municipal councils
b. Split system (France)
School programs and staffing under the ministry
School facilities under 3-tiered local municipal government
Positives: Municipality brings local taxes and decision-making together
Negatives: not conducive to integrative hub development
: community development and curriculum in silos

5. Barriers and Solutions: Local Govt. Why a joint role for School Boards and Municipal Councils? Community Development Planning brings the City into it Integrating Community and Learning brings the School Board into it Bringing the two together provides a local tax base for hub development

Delegated trustees from both TDSB and TCDSB
(further thought needed for the French-language boards)
Delegated municipal councillors (but in minority)
Committees of the SFB would include non-voting representatives of Public Health, Food Council, Library Board, and other municipally organized agencies
Committees of the SFB would include non-voting representatives from parent, teacher, student, support staff, and other community-based groups
A New Joint Local Governance Structure School Facilities Board (SFB) - Composition

Responsibility to maintain school board sites and facilities
Responsibility for capital school board projects
Responsibility for hub development in all its forms
Proper separation of Public and Catholic trustee voting where appropriate
Decisions affecting program delivery to be ratified or vetoed by the school board within a reasonable period
Ownership of school facilities to rest with School Boards
A New Joint Local Governance Structure School Facilities Board - Responsibilities

A New Joint Local Governance Structure School Facilities Board (SFB) - Funding
Provincial grants in support of school facilities and the Community Use of Schools (CUS) - improved
Major provincial upgrading program for old facilities
Other Ministry transfer grants for co-located services
Responsibility for setting facilities portion of local taxes devolved to the Municipal Tax Department for the SFB
Criteria established to ensure inter-Board equity in the allocation of funds for facilities and hub development
SFB to distribute CUS funds to local school communities

Broader membership and a broader mandate
In addition to current responsibilities
Monitoring and reporting on site conditions
Receiving and administering SFB funds for hub development
Helping incorporate community/parallel uses into curriculum
School Councils would have to become School Community Councils

6a. Getting from Here to There
Short term - Convert ARC process into hub development
Short term - Develop hub plans in all School Councils
Medium - Ward-wide Parallel Use Committees (or clusters)
Medium - Board-wide Hub Development Committee
Medium - Board-City Joint Hub Planning Committee
Long-term - School Facilities Board

6b. Build hubs as enrolments decline
Use ARCs to transform schools into hubs
Identify community development (CD) gaps that can be met
Identify community connections and public funding sources
Distinguish bridging solutions from long-term development
Grant high priority to schools with high CD potential
Model Schools and their Clusters
Other high LOI Schools
Older Community Schools and Eco-Schools
Political action: Community Schools Alliance
Urge City of Toronto and TCDSB to do the same

7. Beyond the Fixed Hub: the next generation
For new construction
The continuously evolving community hub
small elementary schools with small catchment areas
built for maximum flexibility of use
adaptable to small-scale demographic change
expands public services as school shrinks or vanishes
may even include housing options
the return of the local school is always an option

Bringing education and community together in a full two-way partnership and protecting the public interest at the local level Hubs for All: Merging Education and Community in Everybody’s Schools

Schools as Community Hubs Nov 09

by David Clandfield on Nov 21, 2009

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Schools as Community Hubs Nov 09 — Presentation Transcript