Item - 2016.TS3.4

The City-School Boards Advisory Committee recommends to the Executive Committee that:

1.   City Council request the Province of Ontario to report on the outcomes of 2015 stakeholder consultations on Ontario Regulation 444/98.

2.   City Council request the Province of Ontario to implement the following reforms to Ontario Regulation 444/98 as soon as possible:

a.   to extend the preliminary circulation period to 180 days, inclusive of

      90 days for expressions of interest and 90 days for formal offers;

b.   to include ministerial approvals within the circulation period;

c.   to broaden the public sector circulation list to increase opportunities to

      acquire a surplus school property for public sector use;

d.   to ensure that coterminous school boards continue to have priority

      access to acquire a viable surplus school property for use as a school.

3.   City Council request the Province of Ontario to commence consultations on exemptions to fair market value pricing on surplus school properties and conditional on funding tools to keep school boards "whole", as described in Community Hubs in Ontario: A Strategic Framework and Action Plan and to include the City of Toronto and Toronto School Boards as stakeholders during these consultations.

4.   City Council forward the report (February 2, 2016) from the Executive Director, Finance and Administration to the four School Boards operating in Toronto, and if approved, to the Government of Ontario.

This report summarizes the City of Toronto and the Toronto school boards' response to recent provincial consultations on Ontario Regulation 444/98. The City and school boards generally agree with proposed reforms to the regulation; however they also agree that barriers to cooperation will persist in Toronto because the Province's proposed reforms do not address school capital funding, exemptions on fair market value pricing on surplus properties, or alternative funding tools to keep school boards "whole". The Province's Community Hubs Secretariat has encouraged the City-School Boards Advisory Committee to offer ideas for resolving these challenges.