TDSB warns Leslieville parents of overcrowding at local schools
Posters tell residents of family-friendly neighbourhood that their children might have to attend an out-of-area school
As the mother of a 16-month-old boy, Michelle Usprech is looking to leave the Financial District where it’s just “suits and suits and suits,” for a more familyfriendly vibe, and she’s got her eye on Leslieville.
But one of Toronto’s most familyfriendly neighbourhoods may be a victim of its own success as signs from the Toronto District School Board have cropped up, warning parents in Leslieville that their children may not be able to attend their local school because of possible overcrowding, school board spokesperson Ryan Bird confirmed. Those signs warn that “due to residential growth, sufficient accommodation may not be available for all students,” despite the school board making “every effort to accommodate students at local schools.”
Considered one of Toronto’s most family-friendly communities, Leslieville continues to increase in density with new condo developments.
“We want to let people know well in advance that (overcrowding) might be a possibility.” JENNIFER STORY SCHOOL TRUSTEE
“It has a young family vibe to it,” Usprech said. Having grown up in the suburbs, she wants to give her son the same environment to grow up in, she added.
It’s a concern for Leslieville parents such as Kerry Sharpe, who has a 4month-old daughter named Eisla. “It’s still early days for me,” she said, but, “it is a concern.”
But the signs are nothing new in Toronto, Bird said.
The school board’s been putting them up for more than 15 years, anywhere where the “local school is close to or over capacity and may not be able to accept any additional students.”
In 2015, for example, the school board responded to the City on 110 development applications where the signs should be put up, he said.
“Children in these new developments still have a home school as- signed to their address, although it will be outside of the local area,” he said. But Jennifer Story, a school trustee whose ward includes Leslieville, said the neighbourhood is nowhere near that point yet. She called overcrowding in schools a “theoretical situation.”
“It’s way off in the future,” Story said. “It’s something we need to keep an eye on . . . it’s not a statement that Leslieville schools are overfull right now or will be when the students that those developments generate might end up in school.”
The worst case scenario when schools reach their capacity, she said, is adding portables. “There are processes to make sure that we can accommodate across a cluster of schools in an area,” Story said.
“As neighbourhoods intensify, we want to let people know well in advance that that might be a possibility.” With files from Sammy Hudes