Newsstand: February 10, 2015

A Scientology-inspired rehab facility is having trouble finding a foothold in Ontario towns. All is well in the world, for a moment. In the news: photographers need not worry in Toronto parks (although city policy might have them confused), the Toronto Catholic School Board might expropriate 30 townhouses, and the public school board disproportionately targets schools in poor neighbourhoods for closure.

By Tannara Yelland • Illustration by Matthew Daley

Thanks to some confusing wording, the city’s policy on photographs in city space (like parks and recreational facilities) looks like it bans people from taking any photography without a permit. That’s not quite the case, although would-be photographers do need the permission of people they’re snapping. Posted on the 311 page for the city, the policy says: “Patrons wishing to use cameras, video cameras or other photographic devices, including camera phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), in any program or facility must receive permission from staff before filming.” However, anyone shooting wildlife or landscapes, or people in their own party, has nothing to fear.

As Toronto’s public school board begins to make preparations for a massive closure of schools, the city’s Catholic school board is considering expropriating 30 townhouses in North York to build a new school. While there’s already a school in the neighbourhood, its lease will be up in three years. Toronto Catholic School Board chair Mike Del Grande told CTV, “No one likes to appropriate anything, but in the end, the common good is that a high school is required in that area.”

And, in Toronto Public School Board news, more than two-thirds of the elementary schools under consideration for closure or merging are in the city’s poorer neighbourhoods. The board is under pressure to close some of the 130 schools that are at less than 65 per cent capacity; the sale of those schools and lands will be used to help cut down on the board’s backlog of repairs. Of the 48 schools that have been identified to be reviewed and possibly closed by 2021, 68 per cent “rank above the boar median for socio-economic need,” and a full 40 per cent are within the most needy fifth of schools. Closing neighbourhood schools and moving students to new schools and schools farther from home will likely present more challenges to already overburdened students. Additionally, most of the schools have programs that benefit families, like daycare and parenting centres, that fill space in the school but don’t count toward the school’s “utilization rate.”