November 2025

I am sorry about the interval between updates on OVCO’s efforts to engage the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) on the Community Mandate endorsed by the OVCO membership on Sept. 16 and supported by 240 community members in our area since. An additional 89 individuals from outside our community have also signed the petition supporting community access to surplus public school space.

In terms of the community mandate, which I copy for you again at the end of this update, we have learned several important things from officials in TDSB planning and capital project development and from our own research:

a)      The original plan for Eglinton Jr. Public School to move into the space at the former VRA that our Community Hub programming now occupies in September 2026 is on hold and "highly unlikely" – anticipated reduced student demand make need for expansion of Eglinton P.S. and temporary relocation of its student population are being reconsidered. We note that Eglinton P.S. has been removed from TDSB’s list of capital projects for development.

b)     There are six other schools on TDSB’s list of capital project developments between 2025 and 2028. Information available on-line does not indicate the need for temporarily relocating the students in five of these projects. Where one relocation is being planned another alternative school location has been identified, and it is not the former VRA.

OVCO’s first priority is to secure a long-term lease for our existing space in the former VRA beyond September 2026. So, establishing whether TDSB plans any alternative use of our current space after September 2026 is the first step. We have asked for a meeting with TDSB officials for transparency on plans for the former VRA next year.

No reply yet. Remember that the Provincial Government has dismissed local school trustees, so we have no representation inside the system to advocate our cause. We have made clear to TDSB officials that in the absence of a trustee the community has designated OVCO to be its voice for exercising the community mandate.

If we are stonewalled in our efforts to meet and get the assurances that we need, we may ask for your support in sending messages to the appropriate people.  That is why I wanted to bring you up to date on the situation.

Thanks so much for your support to date. I will continue to keep you updated with any important developments.

Sincerely,

Peter Clutterbuck, Chair, Oakwood Vaughan Community Organization

Community Mandate for OVCO Leadership to Maintain and Expand Community Programming in the Former Vaughan Road Academy

With the support of more than 270 local residents in 2023 the Oakwood Vaughan Community Organization (OVCO) negotiated a two-year lease with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to operate the OV Community Hub in surplus space in the former Vaughan Road Academy at 529 Vaughan Road. In August 2025, that lease was extended for a one-year term to September 2026.

Since September 2023, OVCO, as head leaseholder, and the Reena organization and Learning Enrichment Foundation (LEF), as Charter Community Hub members, have conducted programming in the OV Community Hub, demonstrating the value and benefit to the neighbourhood of access to space for community programming. Sharing space with the Hodgson Middle School has also proved beneficial in terms of inter-generational activity between the students and teachers and seniors in the Healthy Aging program.

We are concerned, however, at the uncertainty of a longer-term lease beyond September 2026 and the TDSB’s lack of transparency on the future plans for the former VRA facility and grounds. As well, we are concerned about other constraints in the current lease terms that inhibit OVCO’s ability to expand community programming for children, youth and families in this highly under-used school space.

In this petition OVCO leadership asks for your support for our efforts to:

a)      Seek assurance from the TDSB and Toronto Lands Corporation (TLC) that the former VRA will remain a shared public space for public education and community programming;

b)     Secure a long-term lease beyond September 2026 for the continued operation of the OV Community Hub out of the former VRA;

c)      Discuss openly and constructively a range of options for maintaining the OV Community Hub in the former VRA; and

d)     Negotiate a lease with greater flexibility in the operating hours of the OV Community Hub so that more child, youth and family community programming can be provided.